LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the world’s largest luxury goods company, said on Monday that it had reached an agreement to buy the jeweler Tiffany & Company in a $16.2 billion deal, the largest ever in the luxury sector.

The acquisition will give LVMH a bigger foothold in the United States, as well as help Tiffany in Europe and China . It will also cement the status of Bernard Arnault, the LVMH chairman and chief executive, as the most acquisitive deal maker in the luxury business.

“Tiffany is an American icon and was on the list of brands for a long time we thought was a good potential match,” Mr. Arnault said in a telephone interview from Paris.

The acquisition would add another prominent American name to the LVMH stable of brands, which includes Dior, Givenchy, Fendi and Dom Pérignon. The deal would help propel the French luxury company into a leadership position not only in traditional soft luxury goods like clothing and handbags, but also in what is known as the hard luxury sector, which includes watches and jewelry.