Eurazeo has acquired a minority stake through Eurazeo Croissance in Farfetch, an online marketplace for luxury goods and beauty products.
Founded in 2008 by José Neves, Farfetch is an online shopping platform connecting brands and multi-brand boutiques with customers in nearly 190 countries. The website, available in nine languages, showcases more than 100,000 items and over 1,000 brands, including some of the most prestigious in the market, and brings together over 400 independent boutiques. In March 2015, the platform was also directly opened to 75 luxury brands. Farfetch is headquartered in London and also has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Porto, Guimarães, Moscow, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Sao Paulo. It has over 1,000 employees and generated a business volume of more than USD 500 million in 2015. Since its launch, the company has expanded very rapidly, with business volume growth of over 70% in 2015, thanks to its multi-channel model enabling customers to buy online and collect or return items in stores, its extensive catalogue and broad customer base.
Eurazeo Croissance will contribute USD 20 million to this new capital-raising of USD 110 million, which will unite international investors such as IDG and Temasek with the company’s historical shareholders. The capital raised will be used to finance Farfetch’s development projects, particularly international growth and omni-channel retail. The Asia-Pacific zone already accounts for 26% of the revenue generated by the company, which seeks to consolidate its positions in this region of the world.
Virginie Morgon, Deputy CEO of Eurazeo, says: “We were enticed by the Farfetch model which covers the sectors in which we have already gained a solid foothold: digital technology, luxury goods and brand names. In addition to its international profile, multi-channel model and its perfect understanding of the rules governing the luxury goods industry, we were very impressed by the company’s ground-breaking business model and the quality of its implementation, particularly from a technological perspective. We salute the omni-channel vision and digital expertise of the management team, in particular the company’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer José Nevès.”
Yann-Hervé du Rusquec, Executive Director of Eurazeo Croissance, adds: “We firmly believe in the growth potential of luxury goods on digital media, and Farfetch is a pivotal player in this sector. We are delighted to be able to help accelerate its growth trajectory, alongside José Neves, his team, and this group of prestigious investors.”
José Neves, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Farfetch says:“ I am delighted to have Eurazeo join as an investor. I was immediately impressed by the strengths of their team, both on the digital side and their knowledge of the luxury industry and generally by their amazing track record and world class reputation and access. We believe Eurazeo is going to be a transformational partner for Farfetch.”
