Headlines

LVMH Gets $400M Discount in Tiffany Takeover Deal

Tiffany is now valued at $15.8B.

Published

5 years ago

October 29, 2020

INSTORE Staff

LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE and Tiffany & Co. have agreed to a new purchase price in their takeover deal.

LVMH will pay $131.50 per share rather than the originally agreed $135 per share. The agreement “now values Tiffany at $15.8 billion, $400 million less than the $16.2 billion originally agreed upon,” CNN reports.

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The new terms also “reduce closing conditionality” and end pending litigation between the companies in Delaware Chancery Court, according to a press release from LVMH.

“We are very pleased to have reached an agreement with LVMH at an attractive price and to now be able to proceed with the merger,” said Roger N. Farah, chairman of the Tiffany board of directors. “The Board concluded it was in the best interests of all of our stakeholders to achieve certainty of closing.”

The merger is expected to close in early 2021, subject to Tiffany (NYSE : TIF) shareholder approval and customary closing conditions.

Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH, said: “This balanced agreement with Tiffany’s Board allows LVMH to work on the Tiffany acquisition with confidence and resume discussions with Tiffany’s management on the integration details. We are as convinced as ever of the formidable potential of the Tiffany brand and believe that LVMH is the right home for Tiffany and its employees during this exciting next chapter.”

Alessandro Bogliolo, Tiffany CEO, said, “We continue to believe in the power and value of the Tiffany brand and the compelling long-term strategic and financial benefits of this combination.”

The boards of directors of LVMH and Tiffany have approved the terms of the transaction and all required regulatory approvals have been obtained.

In September, LVMH called off its planned acquisition of Tiffany. Tiffany, in turn, filed a lawsuit to compel the luxury conglomerate to follow through with the deal.

LVMH said it had received a letter from France’s foreign affairs minister asking that the transaction closing be delayed until after Jan. 6. The company said the request came “in reaction to the threat of taxes on French products by the US.”

But analysts noted that the deal had become less attractive for LVMH in light of decreased luxury sales amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tiffany said in its lawsuit that LVMH’s real objective was “to attempt to renegotiate the merger price to which the parties agreed last November and, barring renegotiation, run out the clock.”

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