After LVMH, will others bid for Tiffany?

With $4.4 billion in annual revenue in 2018 and $790 million in operating profit, Tiffany is the biggest player on the American jewellery market, which is worth an estimated $20 billion Tiffany would be LVMH's biggest purchase yet, ahead of the €3.7 billion price tag for Bulgari and the €6 billion to gain complete control of Christian Dior in 2017 Still, with market capitalisation north of €200 billion and a "War chest" estimated at €20 billion, it can afford it - buoyed by 16% revenue growth for the first nine months of the year.

A takeover of Tiffany would considerably bolster its Watches & Jewelry business group, which currently contributes "Just" 9% of revenue with sales of €4.1 billion in 2018.Battle of the giants One of the reasons LVMH made its offer now could be that Richemont is busy elsewhere, integrating its recent e-commerce acquisitions of Yoox Net-A-Porter and Watchfinder, for which it paid €2.9 billion in 2018, followed by a joint venture with China's Alibaba and, in September this year, takeover of the Italian jewellery brand Buccellati Financially speaking, with around €10 billion in available assets including almost €3 billion net liquidity, Richemont could certainly follow through.

With an old hand such as Alessandro Bogliolo at the helm - the Tiffany CEO was chief operating officer at Bulgari at the time of the LVMH takeover - candidates shouldn't expect an easy ride. . Source