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MyTheresa is acquiring Yoox Net-a-Porter (YNAP) as part of agreements with Richemont for a cash position of 555 million euros and no financial debt. Meanwhile, Richemont will receive a 33% stake in MyTheresa.
Although the agreement will likely close in early 2025, the company believes the deal will allow MyTheresa to strengthen its global portfolio and make it “multi-brand digital luxury group offering a highly curated and strongly differentiated edit of the most prestigious luxury brands and products.”
“MyTheresa, Net-a-Porter and Mr Porter will offer differentiated but complementary multi-brand luxury edits based on curation, inspiration and utmost customer service,” Michael Kliger, CEO of MyTheresa, said in a statement. “The three brands will share a large part of their infrastructure creating synergies and efficiencies while maintaining their different brand identities. The off-price business will benefit from the separation from luxury and a much simpler operating model driving growth and profitability. We believe that this transaction will create significant value for our shareholders, brand partners and most importantly for our high-end customers.”
While the deal has helped Richemont finally say goodbye to YNAP, which had been listed as a “discontinued operation” in its 2022 earnings report, it also may be a major step for MyTheresa, in expanding its footprint in different markets.
Although the Germany-based luxury e-comm retailer only opened up shop in the US in 2021, it has been doing pretty well since at a time when many luxury retailers continue to struggle due to a decline in sales. It has also successfully managed to avoid the heavy discounting route that several high-end brands seem to have taken in order to revive consumer interest.
Earlier this year, Heather Kaminetsky, president of North America at MyTheresa, told Retail Brew it had avoided deep discounting in order to maintain its relationships with brands. “You need the margin, and it’s really hard,” she said. “We just avoid going down that competitive discounting landscape because it never ends. The clients really respected us for it, even though we probably lost some revenue at the beginning of the season when people were discounting everywhere.”