LVMH Reportedly Wants To Buy Tiffany's For $14.5 Billion

Luxury conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton has made an offer to purchase U.S. jeweler Tiffany & Co., according to news reports. 

LVMH has offered $120 a share, or $14.5 billion, for Tiffany, according to the Wall Street Journal. LVMH made the offer earlier this month, Bloomberg News reported. Tiffany stock was trading at about $99 a share Friday.

Representatives of both LVMH and Tiffany declined to comment on the reports.

The offer comes as Tiffany, like other luxury brands, has struggled with stagnating sales as China's slowing economy has weighed on spending by Chinese tourists, who make up a substantial portion of luxury spending.

The purchase would add another household name to LVMH's plethora of upscale brands. It owns fashion names such as Christian Dior, Fendi, and Givenchy as well as watchmaker Tag Heuer.

The New York City-based company was founded in 1837 by the Connecticut jeweler Charles Lewis Tiffany. The Tiffany brand name became world famous in the early 20th century under the artistic direction of his son Louis Comfort Tiffany.

Today's Tiiffany's, with about $4 billion in revenue, is famed for diamond and sterling silver jewelry packaged in boxes shaded a distinctive blue known as "1837 Blue" and sold at more than 250 stores in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Its Fifth Avenue flagship store at the corner of Manhattan's Fifth Avenue and 57th Street was made famous in the 1961 movie "Breakfast at Tiffany's" starring Audrey Hepburn.

First published on October 27, 2019 / 7:15 PM

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