The fashion marketplace Farfetch and the luxury group Richemont spent more than two years trying to hammer out a deal that lets the Cartier owner offload the online retailer Yoox-Net-A-Porter and allows Farfetch to scale up in size and turn around loss-making YNAP. They finally announced the deal in August.
There are many challenges along the road. The complex transaction is not due to be completed until it has received anti-trust clearances, which could take six to nine months. The clock has already started ticking.
Investors are concerned that the deal will be distraction for Farfetch’s senior managers. It will also force Farfetch to solve its own problems, ones that existed even before talks with Richemont began in 2020. Farfetch’s first challenge will be recruiting the right people both to help the company integrate YNAP and to strengthen its own leadership team.
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