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Richard Vogel

Luxury fashion conglomerates Tapestry and Capri Holdings called off their merger Thursday, weeks after a federal judge sided with antitrust regulators who oppose the deal.

The fashion houses agreed that giving up on the planned union “is in the best interest of both companies,” Tapestry said in a news release. Under the proposal, Tapestry would have acquired Capri in a deal valued at $8.5 billion.

Tapestry owns Coach, Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman. Capri’s brands include Versace, Jimmy Choo and Michael Kors.

The news is a win for the Federal Trade Commission, which sued to block the deal in April. Regulators argued the union would lead to higher prices for U.S. consumers and threaten workers’ workplace conditions, wages and benefits.

In a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/10/24/tapestry-capri-merger-blocked/" target=_blank>decision</a> released last month, U.S. District Judge Jennifer Rochon said the acquisition could not go forward until the case is heard in the FTC’s administrative court. The proposed merger “likely” would violate antitrust law by “substantially lessen[ing] competition in the market for accessible-luxury handbags,” Rochon wrote.

In an analyst note, GlobalData managing director Neil Saunders lauded the companies’ decision to move on from the merger rather than fight in court. Tapestry might be better off without the deal, he wrote.

“Tapestry would also have inherited a whole host of problems from multiple broken brands and, while it could likely fix these, it would have sapped a great deal of time and resource,” Saunders wrote.

Tapestry will repurchase $6.1 billion of bonds it sold to finance the Capri acquisition. Shares of Tapestry, which also announced an additional $2 billion stock buyback, rose more than 11 percent Thursday morning. Capri shares were down about 1 percent.

The companies had argued a merger would have allowed Tapestry to broaden its global reach, usher the company into a higher-end segment of the fashion industry and help its product lines better compete with European rivals.

But Tapestry still has strong brands, particularly with Coach, whose sales exceeded $5 billion in the most recent quarter. “Tapestry remains in a position of strength, with distinctive brands, an agile platform, passionate teams, and robust cash flow,” Tapestry chief executive Joanne Crevoiserat said.

Capri did not immediately return a Washington Post request for comment. Capri Holdings CEO John D. Idol said in a news release Thursday that the termination of the merger allows the company to focus “on the future.”

“Looking ahead, I remain confident in Capri’s long-term growth potential,” Idol said.

But Capri has difficult days ahead, Saunders said: “The company has been badly managed and has neglected its brands in the belief that a merger would happen. … Capri now faces walking the long road to recovery alone.”

Goucher College, BA in American Studies, BA in Communications and Media Studies

Columbia University, MS in Journalism

Jaclyn Peiser covers retail for The Washington Post. She previously worked overnight on The Post's Morning Mix team and covered the media industry for the New York Times. 

Jaclyn Peiser

Fashion houses Tapestry and Capri end merger plan as FTC gets a luxury win

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