Tiffany Files Lawsuit Against LVMH to Enforce $16.2B Merger Agreement

NEW YORK CITY — Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) has filed a lawsuit in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware against LVMH Moët Hennessy-Louis Vuitton (LVMH) as part of an effort to force the French conglomerate to complete its $16.2 billion acquisition of the New York City-based jeweler. The lawsuit refutes LVMH’s suggestions that it can avoid completing the acquisition by claiming Tiffany has undergone a material adverse effect, meaning the jeweler had breached the terms of the merger agreement. Both CNBC and The Wall Street Journal have reported that LVMH is attempting to scrap the deal by claiming that Tiffany failed to follow certain management procedures during the pandemic, such as continuing to distribute dividends to shareholders despite declining profitability, thus misrepresenting its finances and nullifying the deal. As of late 2019, LVMH, based in Paris, owned more than 70 luxury brands in the clothing, cosmetics, jewelry and spirits industries, including Dom Pérignon champagne, Givenchy clothing and perfume and Christian Dior fashion and perfume. New York City-based Tiffany & Co., which was founded in 1837, operated about 300 stores worldwide and employed some 14,000 people as of late 2019.