LVMH tried to walk away from a signed $16.2B Tiffany deal — and paid $425M for the attempt

In November 2019 LVMH agreed to acquire Tiffany & Co. for $16.2 billion at $135 a share — the largest deal in luxury history. Then the pandemic hit, luxury sales collapsed, and the US threatened tariffs on French goods. In September 2020 LVMH announced it was walking away, citing a letter from the French foreign minister asking it to delay the deal past January 2021.

Tiffany sued in Delaware Chancery Court within hours, arguing the tariff threat was a pretext and the French letter was not a legal obligation. LVMH counter-sued, claiming Tiffany had mismanaged the business during the pandemic by paying dividends while losing money. The legal fight played out publicly for six weeks, with both sides releasing documents and trading accusations.

In October 2020 the two companies settled: LVMH agreed to buy Tiffany at $131.50 a share, a $425 million discount on the original price. The deal closed in January 2021. LVMH got its jeweller, but the public fight revealed its negotiating playbook, cost millions in legal fees, and demonstrated that a signed merger agreement is harder to escape than a buyer might hope.