Cartier owner Richemont is keen to retain a stake in the combined entity and preserve exposure to the booming online fashion market, reuters.com reports, citing a number of sources. Net-a-Porter founder Natalie Massenet is finalising her five-year payout with Richemont which could reach more than EUR 100 million, based on the value of her company as of March 2015.
The Swiss luxury group has spurned several informal offers from at least four investment firms for as much as EUR 2.2 billion, as the group was reluctant to sell the business outright for cash. Richemont has a preference for a strategic partner such as Yoox, which it sees as being a strong operator. Also, by selling the business to Yoox, Richemont would no longer need to bear the brunt of investment in UK-based Net-a-Porter, which requires further funds to grow. The Swiss group tends to prefer to hold on to assets than sell them, even if they do not perform very well, such as its fashion label Lancel and menswear brand Dunhill.
Net-a-Porter, which is expected to become profitable in 2015, after having made estimated sales of more than EUR 700 million in the fiscal year just ending, is gauged by analysts to be worth between EUR 1.3 billion and EUR 1.5 billion by using industry multiples.
In recent news, Amazon has been caught negotiating the terms of a possible acquisition of the online luxury retailer Net-a-Porter.
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