(Bloomberg) -- Richemont agreed to offload its troubled online fashion business Yoox Net-A-Porter to Mytheresa in exchange for shares in the German e-commerce company.
The deal, which comes 10 months after a previous plan to sell YNAP to rival Farfetch Ltd. collapsed, will see no cash change hands. Instead, Richemont will take a 33% stake in Mytheresa, which also sells luxury goods online, in exchange for transferring YNAP, along with its existing cash balances and access to a six-year debt facility.
Richemont, the Swiss owner of Cartier and other fashion, jewelry and watch brands, said it will have to take another writedown of €1.3 billion ($1.4 billion) on YNAP, which never lived up to its promise of transforming online sales. YNAP, which owns brands such as Net-A-Porter and Mr. Porter, racked up losses as customers shunned shopping online for expensive goods in favor of buying in stores.
Shares in Richemont rose as much as 1.95% in early trading Monday, taking gains for the year to 14%.
The Swiss group had previously struck a deal to sell YNAP to Farfetch but that share transaction fell apart after the online luxury retailer’s share price collapsed amid mounting losses.
Richemont’s stake in Mytheresa will be subject to a one-year lock-up period following the closing of the transaction, which is expected in the first half of 2025, the companies said. The deal won’t require shareholder approval from either side.
Mytheresa, which has American depositary receipts trading in New York, has a market capitalization of about $368 million.
The deal will see Mytheresa take on YNAP’s €555 million in cash and its €100 million revolving credit facility.
The transaction gives Richemont the opportunity to “retain some exposure to online multi-brand luxury retail without operational control,” RBC Capital Markets’ Piral Dadhania said in a note to clients.
(Updates with Richemont share price.)
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