The star-crossed acquisition of Tiffany & Co. by luxury giant LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton has gone to its next level of legal wrangling between the two companies. Tiffany has filed a motion to expedite its lawsuit over LVMH’s attempt to pull out of the deal. LVMH is seeking to delay the current Sept. 21 hearing date by six to seven months, which Tiffany claims is an “attempt to run out the clock to avoid fulfilling its obligations under the merger agreement.”
Tiffany holds that a delay could further endanger the $16.2 billion acquisition, which faces a Nov. 24, 2020 deadline. However, LVMH claimed in its opposition to an expedited hearing that Tiffany is “seeking to manufacture an emergency where none exists,” according to Bloomberg.
Both companies also disagree regarding Tiffany’s current performance. Global sales at the luxury retailer fell 29% in Q2 2020, an improvement over Q1’s 45% drop, and the company returned to profitability. Tiffany has since stated that it “expects to remain profitable for the balance of the year, with fourth quarter profits actually exceeding those of the fourth quarter of 2019.”
LVMH called the claim “fanciful, even worrying.” The fashion house claimed that continued profitability in 2020 would require Tiffany to slash all current investments, including in marketing and communications, which would come at the cost of the future of the brand.
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