Richemont sells Yoox Net-A-Porter and acquires stake in German luxury platform Mytheresa

Luxury giant Richemont, 3ᵉ global luxury group, announced today in a release that it has signed an agreement with MYT Netherlands for Mytheresa -an online retail website founded in 2006 and specialising in luxury and lifestyle fashion based in Munich, Germany- to acquire Yoox Net-A-Porter (YNAP), in order to create ‘leading, global, multi-brand digital luxury group’.

The press release issued by the Swiss group states that ‘Richemont will sell YNAP to Mytheresa with a cash position of €555 million and no financial debt, subject to customary closing adjustments’. Richemont has also agreed to provide YNAP with a €100 million revolving credit facility.

The luxury giant, which already owns Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and Montblanc among others, will obtain a 33% stake in Mytheresa under the agreement, and will have the opportunity to appoint an observer and a member to the supervisory board. The financial transaction will be finalised in the first half of next year, subject to the usual conditions, including regulatory approvals. Mytheresa will be able to acquire 100% of YNAP's share capital once the transaction has been completed.

Yoox Net-A-Porter (YNAP) has long been a problem for the Geneva-based luxury giant to solve. Richemont had already backed out once, when the YNAP platform was to be sold to the Farfetch group. Agreements had begun to be drawn up in 2022, but were terminated in 2023. Farfetch's financial difficulties ultimately killed off the takeover project.

The transaction with MyTheresa concludes a complicated chapter for Richemont. The directors and shareholders of the Swiss group welcome this operation. The intention for several years of the luxury giant and its founder - South African businessman Johann Rupert, who chairs the group and owns 10% of its shares - was to continue with a leaner balance sheet, more efficient productivity and greater investment in the group's flagship brands, such as Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels. The sale of YNAP could enable them to move in this direction, by increasing the financial room for manoeuvre to boost the Group's core brands.

Between them, Mytheresa and YNAP cover a very large part of the luxury goods market in terms of the number of houses represented, the customer pool and geographical distribution. The results of the transaction therefore look promising for both parties.