When Luxury Meets Red Tape: The Tapestry-Capri Deal Postmortem

• The $8.5 billion Tapestry-Capri merger aimed at creating a leading accessible luxury powerhouse was blocked by the FTC.
• Regulators’ increasing scrutiny, even in discretionary markets like luxury goods, was a warning sign for future deals, especially if the current administration had continued for another term.
• The definition of “accessible luxury” became a key sticking point during the trial and influenced the final decision.

Introduction:

“The Devil Wears Prada,” they say. Perhaps that’s why even angels couldn’t salvage the attempted union of Tapestry and Capri. A deal poised to create a formidable fashion conglomerate was ultimately blocked by regulatory hurdles that some argue were based on flawed reasoning. This is the third installment in our Deal Postmortem series, where we dissect the collapse of major mergers and explore the implications for the parties involved. You can find all our deal postmortems here and a list of failed deals over a fourteen-year period here.

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