Swiss luxury goods group Richemont has hired investment bank Nomura to advise on a possible sale of luxury leather goods brand Lancel, according to a Bloomberg report and French press on Monday.

The sale could raise about 500 million euros ($675.5 million), according to the reports, citing unnamed sources.

Richemont declined to comment.

The maker of Cartier jewellery and Piaget watches recently reported an increase of 9 percent in five-month sales through August, just shy of forecasts, with weak demand for its watches in mainland China but strong growth in Japan and the Americas.