France’s LVMH will pay slightly less to buy the US jeweller Tiffany & Co after the two firms agreed to end a bitter dispute triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic and salvage the luxury sector’s biggest-ever deal. The new takeover price was set at $131.5 (£101.6) a share, down from $135 in the original deal, the companies said on Thursday, bringing the total price tag to about $15.8bn. The deal is designed to bolster LVMH’s smallest business, the jewellery and watch division that is home to Bulgari and Tag Heuer, and help it expand in one of the fastest-growing areas while also strengthening its US presence. New York-based Tiffany retains a resonance as the go-to purveyor of engagement rings that only a handful of rivals can match.
