A person holding an umbrella walks previous a Louis Vuitton retailer in Shanghai.
Tomohiro Ohsumi | Bloomberg | Getty Pictures
LVMH tried on Thursday to dam an try by Tiffany to fast-track authorized proceedings in america to power the French luxurious group to honor an acquisition deal agreed final yr.
LVMH’s $16 billion buy of Tiffany hit the rocks final week after the Louis Vuitton proprietor mentioned it may now not full the acquisition, citing an intervention by the French authorities and the U.S. jeweler’s weakening efficiency.
Tiffany sued LVMH and requested a courtroom in Delaware, the place the case has been filed, to expedite proceedings, because it seeks to have a ruling earlier than a Nov. 24 deadline for closing the acquisition.
The listening to on Tiffany’s fast-track request is about for Sept. 21. Ought to the courtroom determine in opposition to it, Tiffany’s possibilities of acquiring a ruling in lower than two months would dim considerably.
LVMH, run by France’s richest man Bernard Arnault, mentioned in a press release it noticed no cause to hurry up the case and argued that having a trial in six to seven months’ time would permit the events to arrange correctly.
“Tiffany affords no cause why this courtroom ought to transfer mountains and conduct a full-blown trial involving complicated information and worldwide discovery in lower than two months amidst a world pandemic,” LVMH mentioned in its submitting.
It accused Tiffany of making an attempt to hurry a call to keep away from scrutiny of its administration of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tiffany has defended its dealing with of the well being disaster, which hit the luxurious sector exhausting, and mentioned LVMH was making an attempt to expire the clock and trigger the deal to break down.
“We’ve already returned to profitability and count on to stay worthwhile for the steadiness of the yr, with fourth-quarter earnings truly exceeding these of the fourth quarter of 2019,” Tiffany mentioned on Wednesday.
The acquisition — which might be the largest ever within the luxurious business and was meant to broaden LVMH’s comparatively modest presence in jewellery — was agreed earlier than the coronavirus emergency.
The French group, which has mentioned it might counter-sue, has rejected Tiffany’s accusations that it intentionally stalled anti-trust filings, together with with the European Union, to delay the acquisition.
LVMH has in flip lambasted some selections by Tiffany’s administration for the reason that buy was agreed to final November, together with to pay dividends even after the pandemic hit and retailers have been pressured to shut shops.
