LVMH and Tiffany push back completion of $16.2bn acquisition deal by three months

LVMH chief executive Bernard Arnault. The owner of Louis Vuitton backed out of a deal to buy Tiffany after the latter pushed back the purchase date. Reuters

French luxury goods giant LVMH and US jewellery chain Tiffany will give themselves another three months to complete their $16.2 billion (Dh59.45bn) tie-up after the deal did not close on the August 24 date set out in deal documents, a source familiar with the discussions said.

Louis Vuitton owner LVMH agreed last year to buy Tiffany in its biggest acquisition yet, betting it could restore the lustre of the US jeweller by investing in spruced-up stores and new collections.

Under the deal terms, Tiffany and LVMH set August 24 as the first deadline to complete, but with the proviso that one of the parties could push back that deadline as far as November 24, according to a Tiffany filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission submitted earlier this year.

Tiffany is exercising the option to apply November 24 as the ultimate deadline, according to the source.

An LVMH spokesman declined to comment. Tiffany was not immediately available to comment.

The deal between LVMH and Tiffany has yet to receive the regulatory approvals it requires, in particular from the European Union.

Since the acquisition was agreed, LVMH deliberated about whether to renegotiate the deal, in part on the grounds of the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic on Tiffany's business, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters in June.

But in the end, LVMH decided not to seek a re-negotiation, the sources said.