Tapestry (TPR; Baa2/BBB; double Neg) Capri goes bid as TPR files opposition

TPR is doing well on Macy's mentioning Coach handbags selling well in stores. Capri meanwhile going WELL bid {CPRI US Equity} seems to be on below court filing from Tapestry opposing the preliminary injunction and laying out its arguments.

We have pulled some of the early in doc highlights and it paints quiet a positive picture which equities seem to be reading through on. To be clear we are not lawyers/taking a legal view;

" In Plaintiff’s alternate universe, after the transaction closes, consumers shopping for a Michael Kors handbag priced at $295 will have to pay at least $383.50 because Tapestry will be able to jack up prices by as much as 30%, and consumers will be stuck paying that price. Why? Because, they say, the hundreds of handbag brands available online, in malls, at department stores, and the thousands of preowned bags splayed across the internet at all price points are not alternatives .....

If the market operated the way Plaintiff posits, third parties would be up in arms expressing concerns that the transaction will harm them. But, over the last three months, Defendants obtained documents and data from 120 third parties and took 15 third-party depositions, and unlike in the government’s typical merger challenge, not a single third party expressed concern that the transaction will harm consumers. Not a single consumer. Not a single wholesaler. Not even a single handbag competitor. The only people who have expressed a view that this transaction is problematic are Plaintiff and its expert. "

Full court doc here

We see prob. of beating the FTC moving from ~35% to 42% this morning. Its a tailwind for TPR longs in the 2023 issued $/€ lines, particularly out in longer-duration/higher cash px lines.