Luxury giant Richemont is in talks to sell a stake in UK online platform Yoox Net-a-Porter (YNAP) to US rival Farfetch Limited (NYSE:FTCH).
The Cartier and Chloe owner has invited other investors to participate in a potential sale, as the final goal is to make YNAP “a neutral platform, with no controlling shareholders”.
It added that other industry peers and investors have already expressed interest in the loss-making online retailer.
The news comes after reports of activist hedge fund Third Point building a stake in Richemont to push it to change its online strategy.
The Swiss group has poured investment in YNAP in attempts to change the strategy of owning its inventory to a more asset-light model, just like Farfetch, where items are also owned by third parties.
Long-time shareholder Artisan Partners told Reuters that Richemont has been undervalued due to an underwhelming performance at YNAP.
The group posted net profits of EUR1.2bn in the six months to 30 September, up nearly seven-fold from last year, though it said the second half is likely to still see volatility.
