The rumors had been circulating for a while, but now it’s official: Mytheresa wants to acquire industry peer Yoox Net-a-Porter from Richemont. This will create a “leading, global, multi-brand digital luxury group”, according to the involved parties. As part of the deal, Richemont will acquire a 33 percent stake in the rapidly growing Mytheresa.
While Mytheresa recently posted impressive figures, things are not going so well for its industry counterpart Yoox Net-a-Porter (YNAP). The online luxury retailer has been suffering significant operational losses and was fined 5.25 million euros last year by the Italian antitrust agency for misleading pricing and return policies.
Search for a new owner
The Swiss luxury group Richemont had long wanted to divest its loss-making subsidiary due to the need for large investments in technology and logistics in a highly competitive market. In 2022, Farfetch announced it was buying a 47.5 percent stake in YNAP from Richemont. However, in 2023, Farfetch itself encountered financial difficulties. It was then bought by South Korean multi-industry retail giant Coupang, which caused the deal with YNAP to fall through.
A previous deal with Farfetch fell through.
Richemont then sought another buyer for YNAP and has now found one in the originally German company Mytheresa.
Net-A-Porter and Mr Porter remain operational
After the acquisition, which is expected to be finalized in the first quarter of 2025, Mytheresa plans to keep the websites of Net-A-Porter and Mr Porter operational but on a shared infrastructure. Yoox and The Outnet will be separated from the luxury platforms. They will continue as an “off-price division” with a more efficient operational model.
Yoox and The Outnet will be separated.
Richemont will sell Yoox Net-a-Porter to Mytheresa with a cash position of 555 million euros and no financial debt, according to the press release. Richemont will also provide a loan of 100 million euros to YNAP. Meanwhile, it will hold a one-third ownership of Mytheresa, which saw its revenue grow by almost 10 percent in the past fiscal year. Sales and profitability improved over the course of the year.
