European billionaires Bernard Arnault and Albert Frère, worth a combined $25bn (€19.9bn), are planning to set up a private equity company.

Groupe Arnault, owned by LVMH chief executive Arnault, and Compagnie Nationale à Portefeuille, owned by Frère, the Belgian octogenarian billionaire, said in a statement that they would set up a private equity firm with €1bn in backing.