Farfetch, Richemont, Symphony Global terminate agreements

“As a result of the contemplated transaction announced by Farfetch on December 18, 2023, the arrangements with Farfetch underpinning the transactions announced in August 2022 cannot complete. Therefore Richemont, Farfetch and Symphony Global, one of the investment vehicles of Mr Mohamed Alabbar, have terminated the agreements for the sale of a majority stake in YNAP to Farfetch and Symphony Global, the adoption of Farfetch Platform Solutions by most Richemont Maisons and YNAP as well as the opening of e-concessions on the Farfetch marketplace by several Richemont Maisons. Following the transaction announced by Farfetch, it is reasonable to expect that the $300M convertible senior notes issued by Farfetch Limited to Richemont in November 2020 will not be repaid. The carrying value of these notes in Richemont’s accounts amounted to EUR 218M as at November 30, 2023. As previously stated, Richemont has no financial obligations towards Farfetch and does not envisage lending or investing into Farfetch. Richemont Maisons continue to operate on their own platforms and have neither adopted FPS nor launched e-concessions on the Farfetch marketplace. As a result of the termination of the abovementioned arrangements, Richemont will consider alternative options to pursue the realisation of its Luxury New Retail vision and is confident that its Maisons will benefit from cutting-edge platform technology to best serve the growing omni-channel needs of their discerning clientele. The Group’s work on re-platforming planning and solution design carried out to date will be of great value to reach that objective. YNAP similarly has not adopted FPS and continues to operate on its own technology. As a result of the termination of the agreements with Farfetch and Symphony Global, Richemont will re-evaluate options for YNAP to best harness its strengths and potential under new stewardship,” Richemont announced.