LVMH was interested in acquiring Gucci to boost its sales and brand presence in the growing US luxury goods market, where Gucci was more popular than LVMH's brands. Gucci's sales were increasing while LVMH's were declining. However, Gucci claimed there would be little synergies from a merger because LVMH's other brands were not performing as strongly. To defend against a potential takeover by LVMH, Gucci adopted a poison pill strategy through an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) that would dilute LVMH's stake if it increased above a certain threshold. Gucci also searched for a "white knight" investor and eventually sold a large stake to PPR