Farfetch and Alabbar acquire 50.7% of Yoox Net-A-Porter, what it means for the fashion industry.

FARFETCH and Alabbar to acquire a 47.5% and 3.2% stake, respectively, in YOOX NET-A-PORTER (“YNAP”), making YNAP a neutral platform with no controlling shareholder

• FARFETCH and Alabbar to acquire a 47.5% and 3.2% stake, respectively, in YOOX NET-A-PORTER (“YNAP”), making YNAP a neutral platform with no controlling shareholder
• Richemont and FARFETCH to have put and call options, respectively, for FARFETCH to acquire the remainder of YNAP, subject to certain conditions
• YNAP to adopt FARFETCH Platform Solutions to advance growth and shift towards a hybrid business model
• Richemont Maisons to adopt FARFETCH Platform Solutions to advance the realisation of their Luxury New Retail (“LNR”) vision
• Richemont Maisons to open e-concessions on the FARFETCH Marketplace

FARFETCH’s sophisticated technology will enable Richemont Maisons to benefit from the best route to market and realise their Luxury New Retail vision, while implementing a hybrid model at YNAP will greatly enhance its prospects. We have adjusted YNAP’s valuation to bring it in line with today’s market environment and will receive, in exchange, shares in FARFETCH, further aligning our interests. As a supportive shareholder and a Luxury New Retail partner, we will look to build the perfect platform for the future, enabling the luxury industry to flourish in an increasingly digital economy.

Johann Rupert, Chairman of Richemont

• Richemont is selling 47.5% of Yoox Net-a-Porter to Farfetch in a deal that values YNAP at around €1 billion, materially lower than recent estimates.
• Analysts and investors welcomed the transaction, which provides Richemont with a long-awaited exit from a costly foray into multi-brand e-commerce.
• The move paves the way for Farfetch to dominate luxury e-commerce, powering YNAP and Richemont brands with its digital platform and broadening its customer base.

This represents a significant step in achieving Richemont’s vision of making YNAP a neutral industry-wide platform, and, through a put and call option mechanism (which is subject to certain conditions noted below), lays a path towards FARFETCH potentially acquiring the remaining shares in YNAP, bringing together these highly complementary businesses. The partnership also marks a step change in Richemont Maisons’ omnichannel distribution capabilities.

Through this partnership, Richemont and YNAP will leverage FARFETCH’s technology platform to advance their Luxury New Retail programme. YNAP will adopt FARFETCH Platform Solutions to facilitate its shift towards a hybrid retail-marketplace model. Richemont will adopt FARFETCH Platform Solutions to advance the delivery of the omnichannel strategy of its Maisons, which will also join the FARFETCH Marketplace, boosting, among other categories, FARFETCH’s watches and jewellery offering.

Today’s announcement highlights that the FARFETCH platform is well-positioned to deliver end-to-end capabilities for the luxury industry, and envisions further collaboration on innovative technology solutions to be made available to luxury brands and retailers to meet the increasing omnichannel demands of the luxury customer.

On FARFETCH side José Neves is creating the largest fashion luxury digital retailer

“Today, FARFETCH and Richemont advanced significantly our Luxury New Retail vision for the digitization of Luxury. This significant partnership unequivocally establishes FARFETCH as a pre-eminent global platform for luxury. Our FARFETCH Platform Solutions’ capabilities are perfectly tailored to the Luxury industry, and that has now been recognised by Richemont’s Maisons as well as pioneering luxury e-tailer YNAP, who will all be able to elevate the digital experiences of their global customers, by leveraging FARFETCH Platform Solutions. The launch of Richemont Maison’s e-concessions on the FARFETCH Marketplace is a step change in our strategy for hard luxury, which represents more than 20% of the Luxury industry globally, but just 3% of FARFETCH sales, and is an area where we see much stronger customer demand relative to the supply we have had to date

José Neves, FARFETCH Founder, Chairman and CEO

The Farfetch YNAP deal is also important for the development of the online luxury in the Middle East as Mohamed Alabbar said

I am also confident that our deep understanding of the Middle Eastern luxury market, with its tech-savvy and influential customers, will be of great value to YNAP going forward.”

Mohamed Alabbar, Founder and owner of Symphony Global

Source: Richemont media press