Cut-price Tiffany deal agreed
THE luxury giant behind Louis Vuitton shaved just £325m off its £12.6bn bid for Tiffany & Co as the two firms put their bitter dispute behind them.
Yesterday, both businesses said the takeover would go ahead with the 2.5pc discount, after LVMH’s threat to pull out sparked a court battle.
The French firm’s boss Bernard Arnault had tried to get the price down in light of the pandemic. But after seven weeks of wrangling the luxury jeweller agreed to amend the deal, which will be completed early next year. LVMH called it a ‘balanced agreement’.
Tiffany said i t had sought the ‘certainty of closing’ in the interests of shareholders. The two companies will avoid a new-year court battle in Delaware.
Arnault, whose firm described Tiffany’s perf ormance as ‘ dismal’ j ust four weeks ago, said: ‘We are as convinced as ever of the formidable potential of the Tiffany brand.’ Susannah Streeter, senior investment analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: ‘What was meant to be a crowning achievement ended up more like handbags at dawn.’