Several parties interested in buying Yoox

Online luxury fashion retailer Mytheresa is said to be one of the potential bidders for Yoox Net-a-Porter. BestSecret, another online fashion platform is also understood to be interested. So far, all parties have declined to comment on the rumors of a possible acquisition.

Yoox Net-a-Porter (YNAP) is currently owned by Richemont, which has invested heavily into the platform. However, it has had an operating loss for some time now. In the first half of the current financial year, YNAP recorded a loss of 128 million euros. And in early 2023, the company was fined 5.25 million euros by the Italian antitrust agency over misleading pricing and return policies.

Failed acquisition deal

In 2022, Farfetch announced that it was buying a 47.5 percent stake in YNAP from Richemont (YNAP’s owner). However, in 2023 Farfetch itself came into financial trouble as it tried to stave off administration. It was then bought by South Korean multi-industry retail giant Coupang. This meant that the deal with YNAP came to a halt.

Potential buyers

Since then, Richemont has been trying to find another buyer for the fashion platform. Anonymous sources have told the Financial Times that German-based luxury fashion platform Mytheresa is competing with private equity firms Bain Capital and Permira (the owner of BestSecret) in buying YNAP.

YNAP’s losses are expected to continue into 2025.

However, none of the mentioned parties have commented on these rumors so far. According to the Financial Times, there is hesitancy among the potential buyers because YNAP is difficult to value as a result of its ongoing losses, which are expected to continue into 2025.