Farfetch owner plans to take the business private

Farfetch founder José Neves is planning to take the luxury fashion site private after a disastrous float on the New York Stock Exchange.

Neves is understood to be in talks with bankers and top shareholders about a take-private deal, The Telegraph reported.

The company, which listed in 2018, has lost more than 90% of its £6.3bn valuation.

Farfetch, which was due to report its quarterly financial results today, said last night it would not post them and that it “expects to provide a market update in due course”.


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Neves, who owns a 15% stake and holds 77% of the voting rights, is understood to be working with advisers at JP Morgan.

His plan is thought to have the tentative backing of major backers including Swiss luxury conglomerate Richemont and Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba.

Farfetch landed on the stock market in 2018 with shares priced at £18 as investors sought to cash in on booming luxury fashion sales at the time, overlooking the company’s huge losses, which stood at £75.7m at the time.

Earlier this year, the luxury retailer reported a £140.5m loss after tax for the three months to March 31 2023, despite sales jumping 8% to £448.5m.

The business has been in the process of a mass restructuring, which has seen redundancies across its London and New York teams.

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