Press Association
Sunday 12th February 2012
The founder of the Net-a-Porter website is in line for a £50 million windfall after reports said luxury goods group Richemont planned to buy the online fashion boutique in a deal worth up to £350 million.
Geneva-based Richemont, which is home to leading brands including Cartier and Alfred Dunhill, already controls a 29% stake in Net-a-Porter and is thought to be in detailed talks about buying the shares it does not already own.
This includes the 18% of the company held by Natalie Massenet, a former fashion journalist who founded the business in June 2000.
Net-a-Porter now employs more than 800 people in New York and London and features brands such as Jimmy Choo, Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney and Givenchy.
It defied the recession in the year to January 2009 after notching a 234% rise in pre-tax profits to £10.1 million on sales of £81.5 million.
According to the Sunday Telegraph, the deal will give Richemont the opportunity to sell its brands on a site that around two million women visit every month. Richemont declined to comment.
