Coupang, South Korea’s leading e-tailer, has purchased the assets of Farfetch, the luxury e-tailer that was widely reported to be headed for bankruptcy.
The agreement gives the financially strapped Farfetch access to $500 million of capital.
In a statement, Farfetch, which went public in 2018 with an $885 million IPO, said that “holders of its Class A and B ordinary shares and its convertible notes will not recover any of their outstanding investments in Farfetch” and that the company will be liquidated. The New York Stock Exchange immediately suspended trading of its stock.
“Farfetch Limited and its financial advisers have conducted a thorough and extensive process to secure additional liquidity,” the company said. “Without such liquidity, Farfetch Limited and its subsidiaries would have been unable to continue as a going concern.”
Post-acquisition, Farfetch founder José Neves will remain on the company’s board.
The deal spells the end of Farfetch’s planned purchase of Yoox Net-a-Porter (YNAP). Current owner Richemont, which bought YNAP in 2018, said it will “reevaluate options” for the money-losing e-tailer.
While the YNAP purchase originally envisioned Richemont’s stable of brands selling on Farfetch, the luxury conglomerate said its “maisons [will] continue to operate on their own platforms and have [not] launched e-concessions on the Farfetch marketplace.”
Top: A Farfetch retail store (photo courtesy of Farfetch)
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