Tiffany gets certain regulatory clearances for LVMH deal, sales slump

(Reuters) – U.S. luxury jeweler Tiffany & Co said on Tuesday it had received antitrust clearances from Mexican and Russian authorities to go ahead with its $16.2-billion purchase by French giant LVMH .

The company said it amended certain of its debt agreements in order to have sufficient liquidity to handle the coronavirus hit and added that the changes were in compliance with its merger agreement with LVMH.

LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault has decided not to renegotiate the agreed price of $135 per share in cash, sources told Reuters on Friday, after the company’s board last week discussed the fallout from the coronavirus crisis on the acquisition..

Tiffany also said on Tuesday its comparable sales, excluding the effects of currency exchange rates, fell 43% in the first quarter ended April 30, as the coronavirus outbreak gutted demand for its luxury jewelry.

(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam in Bengaluru, Melissa Fares in New York and Silvia Aloisi in Milan; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)