LVMH has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Tiffany for $135 per share in cash in a transaction valued at $16.2 billion. The news comes less than a month after LMVH made an unsolicited bid that valued Tiffany at $14.5 billion, or $120 per share. The deal will strengthen LVMH’s presence in the global jewelry market and the U.S. in particular by adding the retailer’s more than 300 locations to its luxury store footprint. The deal has been approved by both companies’ Boards of Directors and is expected to close in mid-2020, following the approval of Tiffany’s shareholders and the relevant regulatory bodies.

Episerver has signed an agreement to acquire Idio, a content personalization and analytics platform. The acquisition is designed to accelerate the analytics and personalization roadmap for the Episerver Customer-Centric Digital Experience Platform and address the state of buying experiences and expectations.

PayPal has acquired Honey Science Corp., an e-Commerce browser extension plugin, for $4 billion. Honey is best known as a discovery tool, designed to help consumers find savings as they shop online. Once installed, Honey tracks price changes on retailer web sites; it also can automatically input coupon codes when a user enters an online checkout. If no coupons are available, Honey also may offer loyalty points that can be redeemed as gift cards.

Coty has acquired 51% of Kylie Cosmetics and Kylie Skin for $600 million, valuing the beauty brands at approximately $1.2 billion. In acquiring a majority stake, Coty aims to focus on expanding the brands globally and entering them into new categories. Kylie Cosmetics Founder Kylie Jenner and her team will continue to lead all creative efforts related to product and communications initiatives at both brands. Coty will be responsible for the portfolio’s development, leveraging its capabilities in R&D, manufacturing, distribution, commercial and go-to-market expertise, as well as its understanding of the fragrances, cosmetics and skincare categories. Coty also will act as a licensee for skincare, fragrances and nail products.

Le Tote has named Ruth Hartman President of newly acquired Lord + Taylor. Hartman, who brings more than 30 years of retailer experience to the role, has served as Chief Merchandising Officer of Le Tote since 2014 and has held executive positions at Macy’s and DSW. In August, Hudson’s Bay Co. (HBC) revealed it was selling Lord + Taylor, the iconic U.S. department store, to Le Tote for $100 million, marking the rare instance where a digitally native brand acquired a larger traditional retailer. 

Two months after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, luxury candy retailer Sugarfina has a new owner. The Bristol Luxury Group, a subsidiary of investment firm Bristol Capital Advisors LLC, won the auction to purchase the assets of Sugarfina for $15.1 million. Barlock Capital and Scott LaPorta join Bristol as co-investors, with LaPorta now serving as CEO of Sugarfina.

Manthan, an AI-powered cloud analytics software company, has formed a strategic alliance with personalization software provider RichRelevance. The companies have initiated a joint go-to-market that will set them on a path to consolidate their businesses in the coming year. Together, RichRelevance and Manthan will deliver an end-to-end Algorithmic Customer Experience marketing solution that includes a B2C Customer Data Platform, Retail Marketing and Merchandising solution and Real-time Personalization with advanced data science. The solution is designed to help retailers and brands algorithmically discover new segments and target their most profitable customers, automatically test for and deliver relevant content across all touch points, and manage and deploy data science models at scale by leveraging AI.

Nike will sell the Hurley brand to brand management company Bluestar Alliance for an undisclosed sum. Bluestar plans to build on Hurley’s existing global presence and evolve the brand into a complete lifestyle portfolio, with action sports playing a key role. Nike acquired Hurley in 2002 and has since grown the brand to 29 stores, including both factory and employee-only locations. The divestment will allow Nike to narrow its efforts and increase its investment in digital initiatives.