A US court will hear Tiffany & Co’s lawsuit against LVMH Moët Hennessy-Louis Vuitton SE seeking to require the French luxury conglomerate to complete its purchase of Tiffany under a November 2019 merger agreement.

The Delaware Chancery Court in the state of Delaware set the four-day trial to begin on January 5, 2021, effectively granting the US jeweller’s motion to expedite the hearing. 

Roger Farah, chairman of the board at Tiffany, is banking on a ruling before the US antitrust clearance expires on February 3, 2021.

“We will demonstrate to the court that LVMH is in clear breach of its obligations under a valid and binding agreement and that their claim of a ‘material adverse effect’ is completely baseless. Tiffany has acted in good faith in full compliance with the merger agreement and will continue to do so,” noted Farah.

LVMH for its part said it is prepared to meet Tiffany in court.

“LVMH is fully confident that it will be able to defeat Tiffany’s accusations and convince the court that the conditions necessary for the acquisition of Tiffany are no longer met. In this regard, in the coming months, LVMH will demonstrate to the American justice system that the mismanagement of Tiffany during the Covid-19 crisis constitutes a ‘material adverse effect’,” the luxury group said in a separate statement.

LVMH earlier announced that it is calling off the US$16 billion acquisition deal, citing the threat of US tariffs on French goods. According to the group, the French government requested to defer the purchase of Tiffany due to the US-France trade dispute through a letter from the French European and Foreign Affairs minister.

The adverse impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the luxury retail sector also called the agreement into question.

Tiffany revealed a number of key points that it said could become the focus of the trial. According to the US jeweller, LVMH breached its obligation to obtain antitrust approvals “as promptly as practicable.” It also said the letter from the French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs is not a legal restraint and LVMH’s accusations of a material adverse event “is baseless.” Tiffany said it had returned to profitablity after a single quarter of losses, and is expecting earnings in the fourth quarter as opposed to LVMH’s claims of a “dramatic” and “durationally significant” downturn.