Fashion Investments and M&A

Date: December 2023
Buyer: Coupang
Target: Farfetch
Business: Luxury Fashion Resale
Value: £400m
Details: South Korean e-commerce entity Coupang – known as South Korea’s own Amazon - has confirmed plans to acquire Farfetch under a pre-administration rescue deal, with the transaction to complete in early 2024. As part of the acquisition, US-listed Farfetch will have its shares de-listed, following 5 years on the New York Stock Exchange. While the total transaction value has not been disclosed, some reports suggest it could be as much as just under £4m and includes a $500m emergency funding injection into Farfetch, which was on the brink of insolvency. Despite this, Farfetch’s anticipated acquisition of a c.47% stake in Net-a-Porter has been terminated, owing to its financial difficulties. It is reported that Farfetch has over $1billion outstanding term loans and credit facilities.