Mubasher: The French luxury goods company LVMH, the owner of brands like Louis Vuitton, announced the end of talks over a $16 billion planned acquisition of the US jeweler Tiffany, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

The board of LVMH received a letter from the French foreign ministry, asking it to defer the takeover of Tiffany to beyond 6 January 2021, due to the threats of more US taxes on French products

 In addition, Tiffany also requested the postponement of the closing of the deal to 31 December 2020 from 24 November.

The French group said its board decided to comply with the terms of the original merger agreement, signed in November 2019, which stated that the deal must be closed by 24 November.

“As it stands, the Group LVMH will therefore not be able to complete the acquisition of Tiffany & Co,” the group said in a statement.

Tiffany said it would file a lawsuit against the French group to force it to comply with its contractual obligation and complete the transaction.