The French investment house Eurazeo has sold its minority stake in Farfetch, a London-based online marketplace for fashion and luxury goods brands and multi-brand boutiques present in 190 countries, for net proceeds of €90.4 million.
After investing in Farfetch in 2016, Eurazeo said it helped Farfetch to develop business among luxury goods brands and expand its geographic footprint in China. According to a report on the tech news website The Information, Chinese e-commerce group Alibaba is in advanced talks to invest nearly $300 million in Farfetch and Swiss luxury goods group Richmont could also invest alongside it. Chinese e-commerce group JD.Com invested $397 million in Farfetch in 2017 and its peer Tencent $125 million earlier this year.
Eurazeo sold its shares on the market. Farfetch is listed on the New York stock exchange. The sales price corresponded to a multiple of 4.1x cash-on-cash and an internal rate of return (IRR) of about 38 percent.