U.S. judge fast-tracks Tiffany case against LVMH

A U.S. court has fast-tracked Tiffany’s lawsuit against LVMH.

The jeweller wants to force the French luxury giant to go through with a planned 16 billion dollar takeover.

Now a trial is set for four days from January 5.

That’s well after the so-called ‘drop dead’ date on November 24, by which the deal was supposed to close.

The acquisition hit the rocks earlier this month after Louis Vuitton-owner LVMH said it could no longer proceed.

Among other factors, it cited Tiffany’s worsening performance due to the global health crisis.

A lawyer for LVMH argued the jeweller was trying to pretend there was no such impact.

‘It’s hard to see how they can say that with a straight face’, he said.

LVMH says it will demonstrate that mismanagement at Tiffany has had a material impact on its revenues.

Lawyers for Tiffany respond that LVMH is using strong-arm tactics in a bid to get a cheaper price for the takeover.

Now Delaware judge Joseph Slights has called on both sides to reach a settlement rather than proceed with litigation.

If that fails, LVMH says it will close the deal if the court rules that it can't be abandoned.