Report: LVMH reconsidering acquisition of Tiffany

The biggest deal ever in the luxury market — the $16.2 billion acquisition of Tiffany & Co. by luxury good giant LVMH — may no longer be a sure thing. 

Board members of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton had a meeting in Paris Tuesday night specifically to discuss the deal amid a deteriorating situation in the U.S. market, reported WWD.

The report said that the board members were concerned about a number of factors, ranging from the economic impact of COVID-19 to growing social unrest in the U.S. to Tiffany’s ability to cover all its debt covenants at the end of the transaction, which was expected to be concluded mid-year.

Last November, LVMH, the world’s largest luxury good company, entered into a deal to acquire Tiffany for $135 a share in cash. The agreement came after the Tiffany board, in October, rejected an all-cash offer by LVMH of $120 a share — an offer that many analysts agreed was too low.

According to the WWD report, no decision was made at Tuesday’s meeting, but attendees sent a clear message that the acquisition should be reconsidered.