LVMH welcomes court’s Tiffany decision
A US court examining the dispute between Tiffany and LVMH issued a decision on September 21 that pleased the French group more.
Tiffany wanted a full hearing on the two companies’ differences over LVMH’s proposed acquisition of Tiffany to take place before November 24. The November date is the deadline by which the deal agreed in November 2019 has to be complete.
After agreeing to pay $16 billion to acquire Tiffany, LVMH has been reluctant to bring the deal to a conclusion. It argued that the court should not seek to hold a full hearing quickly, but that a hearing at a later date would be fairer.
At the September hearing, the court in Delaware said the full hearing, a suit that Tiffany is bringing against LVMH, will take place in January 2021.
LVMH said it was fully confident that it would be able to defeat Tiffany’s accusations that it took too long to secure regulatory approval for the deal. It said it would convince the court that “the conditions necessary for the acquisition of Tiffany are no longer met”.
It said that, in the coming months, it will demonstrate to the US justice system that its allegations that there has been mismanagement of Tiffany during the covid-19 crisis are well founded. LVMH’s position is that this alleged mismanagement constitutes a material adverse effect and reduces the value of Tiffany.
