Eurazeo Exits Farfetch, Nets 90.4M Euros
● The private equity fund had originally invested in the online luxury marketplace in 2016.
Eurazeo has netted 90.4 million euros by selling all of its shares in Farfetch.
The Paris-based private equity fund said it achieved an internal rate of return, or IRR, of around 38 percent. Its Eurazeo Growth portfolio originally invested in Farfetch in 2016.
“Over this period, (Eurazeo) accompanied the company’s growth, particularly by helping it develop its business among luxury goods brands and expand its geographic footprint in China and other countries,” the company said in a statement.
The disposal came less than a day after reports circulated that Alibaba is about to invest $300 million into Farfetch, sending the latter’s shares up double digits.
Eurazeo’s 2016 investment in Farfetch was part of a larger investment of 110 million euros, or $127 million, raised by a pool of international investors including IDG and Temasek, alongside the company’s existing shareholders.
Founded in 2008 by José Neves, Farfetch is present in nearly 190 countries and brings together more than 400 independent boutiques.
The online luxury platform reported more than $1 billion in revenues in 2019 — a nearly 70 percent increase from 2018.
For the three months ended June 30, Farfetch’s revenues increased 74.3 percent to $364.7 million, reflecting both new customers on the platform and the addition of New Guards Group, acquired last summer. The gross merchandise value of goods sold on the company’s platform expanded by 48 percent.
Losses for the quarter widened to $435.9 million from $95.4 million a year earlier, reflecting a non-cash impact of higher share price on items held at fair value.
Eurazeo has about 18.5 billion euros in assets under management, and is best known in fashion for its 2011 investment in Moncler, which it exited in 2019 with proceeds of about 1.4 billion euros.