Tiffany Shareholders Show Their Love, Approve LVMH Deal

Luxury titan Bernard Arnault cares about Tiffany & Co. — to the tune of $16.2 billion — but he’s not the only one. When the luxury jeweler’s shareholders gathered at its New York headquarters Tuesday morning to vote on the mega sale to Arnault’s LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, it was in all the important ways, already a done deal. (Arnault wasn’t on the scene, but later issued a statement praising the go-ahead of the transaction, the largest deal ever in the luxury space).  The meeting was a formality and little resistance was expected to the deal, struck in November at $135 a share. Investors holding about 72 percent of Tiffany’s stock were represented at the meeting, although the majority of those shares appeared to be voted by proxy. In the room — sipping free coffee, nibbling on croissants, chatting with chief executive officer Alessandro Bogliolo and reading over the rules of the meeting (printed on Tiffany blue paper) — was an eclectic group of smaller shareholders and employees.  They were split on the deal. And while those against it were hopelessly outnumbered, they pressed their cases, sometimes in emotional terms, addressing Bogliolo, who chaired the meeting, and Leigh Harlan, senior vice president

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