Mytheresa among those mulling YNAP buy

Richemont’s renewed attempts to divest Yoox Net-A-Porter have attracted the attention of luxury rival Mytheresa, a report has claimed. The business is believed to be among potential bidders to buy loss-making e-tail giant YNAP.

The Financial Times made the claim, citing “people with knowledge of the sales process”. It also said that private equity firms Bain Capital and Permira are considering a bid for the business. 

But the snag for all potential buyers appears to be the ongoing losses at YNAP with the FT saying it has been told “would-be bidders have expressed reservations about agreeing a deal” because of those losses.

It’s not as if profitability is on the horizon with YNAP expected to remain loss-making for several years, something that makes it hard to value the business.

The report claimed one potential bidder said it’s willing to look at the group but is unsure whether a buy would make sense, with another saying it’s “very much a turnaround-type case”.

Mytheresa, however, hasn’t commented directly on whether it would consider a bid. But it did tell the FT that it’s “constantly evaluating opportunities to grow our business, which may include M&A activities from time to time”.

Richemont has been looking for a new YNAP owner for some time and appeared to have reached a solution when it agreed a complicated deal for Farfetch to take an almost-50% stake that could have grown over time. But that deal fell through due to Farfetch’s own problems.

The Swiss luxury giant had originally acquired Net-A-Porter in 2010 before merging it with Yoox five years later.

It has made massive investments in the business since but has been unable to turn it around and the tougher environment for e-tailers of late means a turnaround is likely to be some way off.