Tiffany & Co., which almost tripled its value selling engagement rings since the recession, may be a takeover target after ending an alliance with Swatch Group AG and could hand investors an extra $3.4 billion in a deal.
The world’s second-largest jewelry retailer boosted its market capitalization to $8.6 billion yesterday from $3.1 billion in June 2009 when the U.S. economy emerged from the longest contraction since the Great Depression, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. After Swatch this month terminated a 20-year watch partnership 16 years early, New York-based Tiffany may command as much as a 40 percent premium in an acquisition, or about $12 billion, said Fifth Third Asset Management.
