Tiffany shareholders approves sale to LVMH

New York

THE holiday blessing that Tiffany & Co shareholders gave to sell the storied jeweller to LVMH pushes the contentious transaction closer to the finish line, giving billionaire Bernard Arnault the long-sought pathway to expand his global collection of luxury brands.

Tiffany will be dropped from the Standard & Poor's 500 Index now that the deal has been approved, S&P Dow Jones Indices said late on Wednesday in New York, with the jeweller replaced by Enphase Energy Inc. More than 99 per cent of the votes cast at a virtual Tiffany shareholder meeting supported the deal, CNBC reported. The transaction, valued at almost US$16 billion, is expected to close in early 2021.

The vote was a key step in the yearlong saga over the luxury industry's biggest takeover. The parent of Louis Vuitton had agreed to buy the iconic jeweller before trying to back out of the deal when the coronavirus pandemic upended the retail world. That prompted a lawsuit by Tiffany and some harsh words from both sides, and the companies eventually agreed to see the deal through at a slightly reduced price.

The two companies announced in October that they'd reached an agreement, whereby LVMH would buy Tiffany for US$131.50 a share, down from US$135 originally promised. Tiffany shares were little changed at US$131.35 on Wednesday in New York and are down about 1.7 per cent in a tumultuous year for any retailer - let alone one trying to keep a merger intact.

Tiffany had accused LVMH of having "unclean hands" when the French side initially abandoned the deal. LVMH in turn disparaged Tiffany for mismanagement of the business during the pandemic, while spending unwisely on dividends. BLOOMBERG