Richemont and Symphony Global, one of the investment vehicles of Mohamed Alabbar, announce a landmark transaction towards the digitalisation of the luxury industry, with the acquisition by FARFETCH and Alabbar of a 47.5% and 3.2% stake respectively in YNAP, and the agreement for Richemont and YNAP each to adopt FARFETCH Platform Solutions.
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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.
YNAP enjoys an established reputation as an authoritative voice in the luxury space, with strong brand relationships, distinctive curation and editorial expertise, excellent customer service and a highly valuable base of over 4 million high spending customers globally.
YNAP operations will leverage FARFETCH’s sophisticated technology. This technology will significantly advance the roll-out of YNAP’s marketplace offering, as FARFETCH’s platform is already connected with the inventory of many of YNAP’s luxury brand partners. It will also enable YNAP’s shift towards a hybrid business model which will be more asset-light, complementing YNAP’s first-party curated inventory ownership with a third-party e-concession/marketplace offer. This shift is expected to improve YNAP’s financial performance while customers, in turn, will enjoy an enriched shopping experience.