In a bid to expand its ecommerce presence, high-end products and luxury retailer Richemont offered to buy Yoox Net-A-Porter for EUR 38 per share, an almost 26% premium to the ecommerce portal’s closing price on Friday, reports Reuters.
Richemont said it would invest in expanding YNAP and use the ecommerce portal to develop online sales for its own brands, which also include pen and accessories maker Montblanc and watchmaker Baume & Mercier.
The Swiss company -- which owns 49% of YNAP but only 25% of voting rights -- already sold some of its brands such as clothing label Chloe on the website.
Ecommerce and luxury were pretty shy of each other, but demand for convenience (mostly coming from millennials who do not fear the web) has convinced many high-end retailers that luxury products have a future online.
Another important factor was the demand for luxury products in China, which increased in the last few years. In response, luxury ecommerce platforms are developing partnerships and plan to expand their presence in China.
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