Image credit: Tiffany & Co.
On 9 Sept LVMH said it was withdrawing its offer to buy Tiffany, while Tiffany said it had filed a lawsuit to force the luxury giant to move forward with its offer.
However, LVMH said in statement that it couldn’t complete the deal ‘as it stands,’ citing a request from the French government to delay the deal beyond Jan. 6, 2021, because of the threat of U.S. tariffs on French goods. Tiffany, on its part, said said that while LVMH had informed the jeweler that it had received a letter from the French government to delay the deal, the company had not yet seen a copy of that letter.
Tiffany decided to sue LVMH over frustration that 10 months after the agreement, it had not yet filed for antitrust approval in the European Union.
The acquisition of Tiffany would have made LVMH a major player in the so-called hard luxury sector, adding to its purchase of Bulgari in 2011, as well as its most significant beachhead in the American market.
Aruna Gaitonde, Editor in Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough&Polished
