In the second piece of breaking news of this Thursday in May, we are hearing that Frederique Constant, the erstwhile independent producer of "accessible luxury" timepieces, has agreed to be sold to Japanese watchmaker Citizen! The Citizen group already owns La Joux-Perret and its associated brands (including Arnold & Son), so this is not the first time a Swiss conglomerate will go under Japanese control.
Frederique Constant Holding was founded in 1988 and includes the FC brand, Alpina, and DeMonaco. No terms were disclosed of this deal, and more can be read right here.