LVMH close to buying Tiffany & Co for $16bn
Luxury fashion house LVMH, the owner of Louis Vuitton, is close to buying jewellery retailer Tiffany & Co for about $16.3bn.
LVMH, which also owns Dior and Moet & Chandon, is nearing an agreement to acquire the US jewellers for $135 per share, in a deal that could be announced this evening or tomorrow.
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Jewellery is one of the fastest growing parts of the luxury goods market and the purchase, which would be the largest in LVMH’s history, would strengthen the company’s watch and jewellery division, which includes Bulgari, Hublot and Tag Heuer.
Earlier this month Tiffany rejected a $120-per-share all cash offer from LVMH to buy the company, saying the $14.5bn bid significantly undervalued the firm.
It was reported last week that LVMH had persuaded Tiffany to provide it with confidential due diligence after it raised its bid to close to $16bn.
The iconic jewellery chain, which was founded in New York in 1837 and made famous by the 1961 film “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” , had suffered from slumping sales and profit since 2015, before a revenue turnaround in 2017.
The company has been damaged by the ongoing trade war between the US and China that has seen spending by Chinese consumers in US shopping hubs reduce.
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Under chief executive Alessandro Bogliolo, former head of fashion firm Diesel and a Bulgari alumni, the brand has been building up its e-commerce business, and trying to court younger shoppers with more affordable pendants and earrings and new designs.
Main image credit: Getty