Takeover at Tiffany: Sold to LVMH for £12.5billion

EUROPE’S richest man has added Tiffany to his vast luxury goods empire after snapping up the famous jeweller for £12.5bn.

Bernard Arnault, the chairman and chief executive of LVMH, hailed the ‘unparalleled heritage’ of the legendary brand.

The American luxury retailer, which became a household name after being featured in the 1961 Audrey Hepburn classic film Breakfast At Tiffany’s (pictured), has been hit by falling sales recently.

But it has long been coveted by Arnault, who already presides over a string of high-end brands including Louis Vuitton, Bulgari, Christian Dior, Tag Heur and Dom Perignon.

The 70-year-old retail magnate has an estimated £82bn fortune, which makes him the world’s third richest man behind Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Microsoft’s Bill Gates.

He said: ‘We will be proud to have

Tiffany sit alongside our iconic brands and look forward to ensuring that it continues to thrive for centuries to come.’

The jeweller, whose flagship store is next to Trump Tower on New York’s Fifth Avenue, was founded in Manhattan by Charles Lewis Tiffany in 1837.

It employs more than 14,000 people and has around 300 shops, including in London’s Mayfair and Canary Wharf.

LVMH – the world’s biggest luxury goods company – has 75 brands, 156,000 employees and a network of more than 4,500 shops around the globe.

It secured the takeover after rising its offer from $120 to $135 a share. The deal will trigger a huge payday for Wall Street bankers, including Citi and JPMorgan, which represent LVMH, and Centreview and Goldman Sachs, which represent Tiffany.