In merger dispute, Tiffany’s shows what’s wrong with American business

(econotimes.com) - With LVMH, the world’s largest luxury goods conglomerate, unleashing a counter-lawsuit against Tiffany & Co., the bitter fight about what was supposed to be one of the biggest mergers in the luxury goods sector in recent times enters the next round. The suit claims that Tiffany executives “mismanaged” their company during the coronavirus pandemic, leaving it with “dismal” future prospects. LVHM also claims that the jeweler is therefore no longer the vibrant firm it once was when the merger deal was originally agreed last November, making it impossible for the French group to go through with it. LVHM’s move comes mere days after Tiffany won a motion to have its lawsuit against the French luxury consumer goods group expedited – one it kicked off in early September when the Americans accused LVHM of stalling. However, even if Tiffany cheered the ruling of the Delaware court, the jeweler has in reality very little left to celebrate. Indeed, the American icon didn’t seem to have things under control during the pandemic, which so painfully exposed Tiffany’s calcification as a result of inefficiency and hubris in the face of a changing market. The aborted tie-up has now become the biggest merger to fall victim to the pandemic and is seen by many as a portent of more economic doom looming on the horizon – and Tiffany has only itself to blame.