Richemont completes takeover of YNAP

Luxury conglomerate Richemont has completed its take-over of online luxury group Yoox Net-A-Porter (YNAP) having reached a total of 94.99% of its shares.

The group, which had previously been YNAP's largest single shareholder, needed to exceed a threshold of 90% of YNAP shares before being able to confirm that its takeover was complete.

YNAP CEO Federico Marchetti, who gave up his 4% stake in the group to Richemont but who will remain as CEO, said YNAP "powered by Richemont" would be "truly unbeatable".

"Our solid track record of growth has made us number one in online luxury. Together with Richemont, we will invest even more in product, technology, logistics, people and marketing. We will accelerate our global growth and guarantee YNAP’s long-term leadership," Marchetti said.

When Richemont announced its bid to take full control of YNAP in January of this year, it said the business would continue to be run as an independent company from its main group, which owns luxury brands such as Cartier, Chloé and Azzedine Alaia.

Marchetti founded YOOX in 2000 and launched it onto the Milan Stock Exchange in 2009. In 2015, Richemont which had been the largest shareholder in British-based Net-A-Porter Group, led the initiative to merge the two companies to create YNAP. While the group was floated in Milan, Swiss-based Richemont retained an almost 49% shareholding.

Marchetti was appointed CEO of the enlarged group at the time of merger and Dame Natalie Massenet, the founder of Net-A-Porter, had been due to take on the role of chairman but elected to leave the group instead. She has subsequently joined rival group Farfetch as non-executive co-chairman and set up a venture capital fund called Imaginary Ventures.

“We started the business long before anyone else believed luxury could move online. I’m proud of what we’ve built over nearly two decades. It’s been a journey fueled by the creativity and courage of so many people. I’m grateful to the entire YNAP team for their hard work, and to all of the customers, partners and friends who have supported us along the way," Marchetti said. “The journey continues and it’s going to be very exciting!”