LVMH once said that Tiffany “defended love” but now describes the New York jeweler as a “badly managed” company with “bleak” outlooks.

The Louis Vuitton owner filed claims in a counterclaim against Tiffany in a dispute over a $ 16.2 billion takeover deal.

LVMH claims Tiffany is no longer the company that agreed to buy it last November prior to the pandemic.

But Tiffany said LVMH’s “deceptive” arguments were another “blatant attempt” to not pay the $ 135 per share agreed upon.

The jewelry company, immortalized in the novel Breakfast in Tiffany’s for Truman Capote’s novel, has filed a lawsuit against LVMH after the French luxury goods company said it was moving away from the deal, which was struck last November before the pandemic.

‘Burning money’

Tiffany said it wanted LVMH to complete the acquisition “on agreed terms” and said it had suffered losses for thirteen weeks before becoming profitable again.

“The misleading arguments for LVMH are yet another blatant attempt to evade its contractual obligation to pay Tiffany’s agreed price,” said Roger Farah, president of Tiffany.

In return, LVMH said the top five Tiffany executives could receive $ 100 million in bonuses if the deal goes ahead.

“LVMH proposed to acquire it in November 2019 – Tiffany & Co, a consistently high-profit luxury retail brand, no longer exists,” said LVMH in a court document.

It also accused the company of paying large dividends when it incurred losses, took additional debts, and “burned liquidity.”

“Tiffany’s mismanagement of its business constitutes a flagrant breach of its commitment to operate in the normal course,” she said.

“There are many examples of mismanagement detailed in a deposit, including reducing capital, marketing investments and incurring additional debt.”

LVMH, led by France’s richest man Bernard Arnault, initially offered $ 120 a share to Tiffany before raising it to $ 135. But since then, Tiffany’s share price has dropped and is now trading at $ 116.44.

Tiffany started the feud when she sued LVMH for disabling it earlier this month.

Questions about the impact of the coronavirus – which dampened revenue in the luxury sector and led to a 36% drop in Tiffany’s sales in the first half of the year – are raising doubts about the deal.