Tapestry Capri antitrust trial: Key questions about merger

Just a few miles from the birthplace of Coach in New York City, a federal judge will soon decide whether its owner Tapestry can become a bag behemoth — in a decision that will weigh big questions about how much consumers are paying for goods and the choices they have when they shop.

Investors, lawyers and reporters have flocked this week to a courtroom in Manhattan for an antitrust trial over a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit that seeks to stop the merger of Tapestry and Capri. The deal, if approved, would put six fashion brands under a single company: Tapestry’s Coach, Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman with Capri’s Versace, Jimmy Choo and Michael Kors. 

Tapestry and Capri announced the $8.5 billion deal more than a year ago, but the FTC sued to block it in April. It argued the combined companies would take away competition and leave consumers with fewer affordable handbag options and employees with worse pay and benefits.

Attorneys for the FTC have argued this week that the merger would harm consumers by putting Coach and Michael Kors — two brands it described as having similar prices and often competing head-to-head — under the same company. Both brands sell directly to customers on their websites and in stores, but also are carried by stores that cater to Americans across incomes including department stores Macy’s and Dillard’s, off-price retailers like T.J. Maxx and outlet stores.

Tapestry and Capri, on the other hand, have argued the deal will allow them to keep up in a trend-driven industry where newer brands and changing consumer tastes are a competitive threat. At the time when the companies announced the deal, Tapestry’s CEO Joanne Crevoiserat told CNBC that it’ll allow Tapestry to reach more customers across age groups and incomes across the global, especially in the luxury and higher-end markets.

The outcome of the antitrust case could shape the outlook for the industry that makes the bags, eyeglasses and apparel that many Americans carry and wear across the country. It comes as Americans increasingly balk at high prices after years of high inflation — and the Biden administration takes aim at mergers in the grocery, technology and apparel spaces.

Investors are watching the trial closely for how it could affect shares of Tapestry and Capri. Shares of Tapestry are up more than 13% this year. On the other hand, Capri’s stock has tumbled about 21% this year.

Here are key questions that have defined the first three days of the trial, including highlights from some of the testimony: