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LVMH to acquire Donna Karan

December 2000




LVMH to acquire DONNA KARAN...

LVMH Moët Hennessy-Louis Vuitton announced on the 18th of December 2000 that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of Gabrielle Studio Inc., the privately owned licensor of the Donna Karan trademarks.

Concurrently, LVMH has submitted a proposal to the Board of Directors of Donna Karan International Inc., (NYSE:DK) “DKI”, to acquire the Company for $8.50 per share in cash, or a total of approximately $195 million. This represents a 74% premiumover the closing stock price on 15 December 2000.

It is anticipated that when the acquisition of DKI is completed, DKI would be combined with Gabrielle Studio and Ms. Karan and her husband Stephan Weiss would exchange a significant portion of their DKI shares for, and purchase additional stock in, the combined entity. Ms. Karan will also continue to act as chief designer retaining her creative leadership in the combined entity.

DKI is one of the world's leading fashion design houses. It was founded in 1984 on the talents of Ms. Donna Karan, the world-renowned American fashion designer. The Company designs, contracts for the manufacture of, markets, retails and distributes collections of women's and men's clothing, sportswear, accessories and shoes under the DONNA KARAN NEW YORK®, DKNY®, DKNY JEANS™ and DKNY ACTIVE™ brand names.

Myron Ullman, Group Managing Director of LVMH, commented, “We see our acquisition of Donna Karan as great opportunities to further develop this wonderful brand name in an international context. We are excited by the prospects of being able to participate in DKI's growth in the retail marketplace.”

From LVMH's Press Release