the batteries are recharged, his vision somewhat clearer, the sun is shining, it's like everything has happened but nothing actually has. during my 3 week hiatus, the biggest and possibly most interesting piece of news (for me) that occurred, was the acquisition of online retailer net-a-porter.com by swiss conglomerate richemont SA.

natalie massenet, founder and chairman of online fashion retailer net-a-porter.com / reuters pictures
richemont acquired over 80% of the share capital of net-a-porter.com (richemont previously owned a 33% stake in the company), valuing the online retailer at £350mil. net-a-porter founder, natalie massenet, will gain some £50mil from the sale of her shares.
without getting too lengthy, i find this deal particularly interesting:
without getting too lengthy, i find this deal particularly interesting:
- portfolio diversification
richemont group houses a stellar list of jewellers and watch makers, such as cartier, van cleef & arpels, piaget, jaeger lecoultre etc. luxury fashion formed a small subset of their business (chloe, dunhill etc). adding net-a-porter.com will greatly balance the mix. the jewellery and watches business suffered in the current climate: less bankers bonus, less watches, less trophy wives, less jewellery.

results for the 9 months ended 31 dec 2009 for richemont showed decreasing sales in all categories, with turnover dropping 9% as compared to the previous year. i think net-a-porter will be a great fit and diversification within richemont. there's a lot of potential: net-a-porter could expand it's offerings to include menswear, childrenswear etc.
is prada's ipo ever going to materialise?
- 1st april 2010 acquisition
- lvmh
- prada
is prada's ipo ever going to materialise?

share price of richemont SA from nov 2001 to apr 2010 / richemont.com
so how did the market react to richemont's acquisition of net-a-porter.com? very favourable. in this "are we in a recession or not" economy, richemont's share price is at it's very peak, closing at CHF42.21 on 6th april 2010. the amateur in me thinks richemont will be a good investment for the long run, but seeing potential is one thing, buying shares at it's peak is quite another.
so a little food for thought. and happy easter.
p/s: thank you for the lovely emails and comments whilst i was away. i really appreciate it all.
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so a little food for thought. and happy easter.
p/s: thank you for the lovely emails and comments whilst i was away. i really appreciate it all.
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Whenever you do these financial analysts you just blow me away!! I think that is something unique to you over here. Though it does make me nervous when people sell off a majority stake in their company. I know n-a-p is shop, but I always reminded of what happened with saint laurent, valentino, and the likes when they gave up control of their companies.
ReplyDeletearghhh!! ur back!!! *screams like a high school girl*
ReplyDeleteanother insightful blog! :)
It's so good to have you back- you were missed. Glad to hear you enjoyed your holidays...
ReplyDeleteAll the best,
C.
I hope buying stocks is not as scary as it sounds. It seems like an exciting thing to do but my technical non-know-how (?) stops me.
ReplyDeleteWB!
yoohoo!!..he's back!!
ReplyDeletei love this post. much better than the ft!
ReplyDeleteExcellent story. Thanks for the analysis. Why is Prada so broke?
ReplyDeleteLO: i would like to know too. prada's privately owned so their financial numbers aren't readily available to the public. it was last reported that they have debts to the tune of $1.7bn (http://00o00.blogspot.com/2010/01/lanvins-new-investor-revealed-prada.html)
ReplyDeletelooking back at that post, i suggested that richemont would be making acquisitions, and they did!
i think prada's debts had something to do with the acquisition of helmut lang and jil sander at the height of the market boom, and the failure of miu miu menswear line. helmut lang was later sold to Theory group, i suspect at a loss. jil sander later sold to current owner, again i think at a loss.
Thanks for the sharing this website. it is very useful professional knowledge. Great idea you know about company background.
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