Yoox Held Talks To Merge With Net-A-Porter, Reports Say

Italian e-commerce hub Yoox has reportedly held talks to buy or merge with Net-A-Porter, currently owned by Swiss group Richemont.

Yoox, which was forced to put out a statement on the subject, was in discussions but the talks stalled, according to sources including Il Sole 24 Ore, an Italian daily business newspaper. The reasons talks failed remains unclear.

In a statement, which did little to deny the story, Yoox said ‘no discussions are underway with Richemont to assess a potential merger with Net-a-Porter Ltd. Therefore, the Company cannot comment further on the rumour.'

Federico Marchetti, chief executive at Yoox, which increased sales by 26.6 per cent to €375.9 million last year, told Bloomberg: ‘There are no talks underway with Richemont.' Asked whether there had been talks he said: 'We wouldn't be doing our job if we didn't look at certain acquisitions in a selective manner and we will continue to do so.’

Marchetti also said it would never do anything to compromise the independence of the 30-or-so branded fashion websites it manages in the country, including Diesel, Dolce & Gabbana and Emporio Armani.

But the speculation that Net-A-Porter is up for sale would almost certainly draw other potential investors out. Richemont apparently would not comment on the rumours this week but it said earlier this year that it would consider hiving off acquisitions that had not worked or which were not profitable enough. 

Observers - including the FT - took this to mean it had concerns about some of its fashion businesses rather than its jewellery and watches businesses which have long been its mainstay. But, although the timing of the rumoured talks makes it tempting to draw a link, there is no suggestion yet that Richemont includes Net-a-Porter among its regrets.

Net-A-Porter was acquired by Richemont in 2010. It had been profitable for 7 years before loosing £27.2 million on rising sales of £368 million in 2012 as it moved to broaden its products into health and beauty and opened more international markets.

Richemont said in its most recent annual report that Net-A-Porter managed to reduce losses in the 12 months to the end of March, without specifying what the losses were.