Louis Vuitton’s owner LVMH is closing in on a £13billion deal to buy high-end jeweller Tiffany & Co. Tiffany, worn by celebrities such as Lady Gaga, has managed to squeeze even more money out of LVMH since the luxury goods group first declared its interest last month. The French firm, led by Europe’s richest man Bernard Arnault, originally proposed an all-cash offer of $120 per Tiffany share. Its latest bid stands at $135 per share, the Financial Times reported. The boards of both Tiffany and LVMH were set to meet last night to discuss the latest offer. A deal could be announced today.
More than 1,000 betting shops have closed since April at a rate of four a day, analysis by The Mail on Sunday reveals. Betfred founder Fred Done last night said bookmakers had been left ‘fighting for their lives’ by a Government crackdown on addictive betting machines in April – and are being forced to scale back drastically as a result. New laws to tackle Britain’s gambling epidemic slashed the amount punters can bet on fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs) from £100 to £2, wiping as much as 60% off betting shop profits. Analysis of company data showed bookies have shuttered 1,017 shops since the April ruling – and they have earmarked 982 more for closure by 2021. That would mean almost 2,000 of Britain’s 8,423 bricks-and mortar outlets closing within a three-year period, changing the face of high streets across the country. The prospect of culling around one in four betting shops is likely to be welcomed by those who see bookies as a blight on communities. But it would place in jeopardy more than 11,000 jobs, or around 10 per cent of the UK gambling industry’s workforce.
