Mytheresa is reportedly closing in on an acquisition of struggling Yoox Net-a-Porter, knocking down rival bidders Frasers, according to sources. If the acquisition is successful, this would make Mytheresa the largest luxury e-commerce platform.
In April, Mytheresa first expressed its interest in YNAP, the parent of Yoox and Net-a-porter. Both businesses are Mytheresa’s competitors.
But, in a world where luxury e-tailer Mytheresa is seemingly flying sky high above its rivals – just look to the collapse of Matches and Farfetch – it leaves industry sources perplexed as to why they’d take on lossmaking Net-a-Porter.
In its fiscal year, Mytheresa’s adjusted net income came to £6.4 million (7.7 million euros), compared to £15.4 million (18.4 million euros) in fiscal 2023. Net sales were up by 9.8% to £704.8 million (840.9 million euros).
Considering the weak financial position of YNAP, Mytheresa has a shot of snapping up the business for a low-cost.
“There’s more momentum going in the new fiscal year,” Michael Kliger, Mytheresa’s CEO, recently told WWD.
“We do see continued uncertainties and macro headwinds, but what we also see is that the US is quite strong for us.”
Frasers is also in the running. In July, it was reported that Frasers Group was eyeing a potential bid for Yoox Net-a-Porter. The British retail group has approached investment bankers at Goldman Sachs, which has been running the sale process for YNAP owner Richemont.
However, Mytheresa could have more at stake here. A takeover of Net-a-porter would provide Mytheresa with logistics operations in the US, potentially propelling further growth in the States. Net-a-porter has a distribution centre in Mahwah, NJ and Yoox has a distribution centre in Secaucus, NJ.
The deal would also establish Mytheresa as one of the last men standing in the multi-brand luxury e-commerce ring – along with US-based Saks, Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus.
So why is Richemont so keen to off-load Yoox Net-a-Porter? In 2022, Richemont sought to give up control of the online fashion retailer by selling a 47.5% stake in Yoox Net-a-Porter to London rival Farfetch. However, in December 2023, Farfetch narrowly escaped bankruptcy, thanks to South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang swooping in to save the day with a $500 million cash injection. However, Farfetch’s financial downward spiral ultimately led to the YNAP deal’s collapse.
Rival Matches faced a similar fate after being ‘rescued’ by Frasers, who appointed administrators to the group last month.
The Swiss luxury giant has been trying to offload problematic YNAP for years. In 2023, there was a reported £3 billion (€3.6 billion) loss from discontinued operations primarily resulting from the £2.9 billion (€3.4 billion) non-cash write-down of YNAP net assets.
