Tiffany Stock Gains On Fresh Hopes For LVMH Deal

Shares of Tiffany & Co. shot up Tuesday on hopes that the company’s deal with LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton could still be salvaged.

Tiffany’s stock, which has been largely trading between $115 and $123 this month, jumped 5 percent to $129 midday on multiple reports that the two sides were looking beyond their contentious legal battle and were back at the bargaining table.

Both CNBC and the Financial Times reported that the two sides were considering a deal somewhere above $130 a share — each dollar in the per share price equals just over $120 million in the total price of over $16 billion.

A spokesman for LVMH declined to comment and Tiffany could not immediately be reached.

If the two sides were to come to some agreement it would amount to something of a pandemic price cut on what would be LVMH chief Bernard Arnault’s biggest luxury deal ever.

LVMH approached Tiffany last year to start a takeover dance that quickly spilled out into the public.

But while Tiffany was ultimately wooed, with Arnault saying LVMH would “develop this jewel with the same dedication and commitment that we have applied to each and every one of our maisons,” the feeling seemed to change once the coronavirus clamped down on business.

LVMH said it was backing out of the deal in September and Tiffany accused the French giant of slow walking the regulatory process and simply playing for a better price.

The regulatory approvals are now in, but the two have been spitting legal fire at each other in the runup to a trial set to take place in Delaware court in early January.

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Tiffany Vs. LVMH Legal Battle Rolls On

Tiffany Shareholders Show Their Love, Approve LVMH Deal

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