Mytheresa-Ynap, the takeover closes on 23 April. Michael Kliger will be ceo of the new group
From the deal - which saw the Nyse-listed German platform take over 100% of the Italo-English group from Richemont - a new high-end multi-brand fashion ecommerce player will be born, to be called LuxExperience
2' min read
2' min read
The takeover of Ynap, a group created in 2015 through the merger between Yoox and net-a-porter, by Mytheresa, announced on 8 October, will close on 23 April. From the deal - which saw the Nyse-listed German platform take over 100 per cent of the Italo-English group from Richemont - a new high-end multi-brand fashion ecommerce player will be born, to be called LuxExperience.
With less than two weeks to go until the closing, at a time of uncertainty, the group has started to set some milestones: Michael Kliger, who has been leading Mytheresa for more than a decade, will be ceo and managing director of LuxExperience and will, at the same time, retain the position of leader of the German platform. The LuxExperience group will also employ Martin Beer, cfo and managing director; Philipp Barthold, chief technology officer; Sebastian Dietzmann, chief operating officer; Gareth Locke, chief data & analytics officer; Richard Johnson, chief business officer; and Björn Kastl, chief people officer. All managers already working for Mytheresa. The only 'outsider', thus arriving from Ynap where she held the position of online flagship store president, is Francesca Tranquilli, who will be chief transformation officer.
"The strong management teams of the brands Mytheresa, Net-a-porter, Mr porter, Yoox and The outnet and will create individual brand identities and a differentiated, yet complementary multi-brand luxury offering for customers," said Kliger. "At the group level, the new management team will strategically focus on efficiency, thereby increasing the profitability of the brands. The common goal of the team is to offer an exceptional luxury experience to our customers and to increase the group's profitability. I am excited and confident that, with our passion and expertise, we will rapidly improve all activities and achieve our financial targets on schedule.
From the outset, Mytheresa has expressed its desire to maintain the identity of each brand, reinforcing the different value propositions. The brands will be headed by: Heather Kaminetsky (formerly Mytheresa, CEO of Net-a-porter); Toby Bateman, CEO of Mr Porter (of which he was also the founder); Mirko Nobili, CEO of Yoox (formerly CEO of Ynap); and Sabah Naqushbandi, managing director of The Outnet. As already mentioned, Michael Kliger will keep - 'for now', reads a note - the leadership of Mytheresa.
The German Nyse-listed platform brilliantly weathered the critical period (2023-24) for multi-brand fashion ecommerce thanks to a cutting-edge structure (both in terms of tech infrastructure and logistics) by engaging a community of high spenders with the US as the first market. It ended Q2 FY25 on 31 December 2024 with net sales up +13.4 per cent year-on-year (+17.6 per cent in the US) and adjusted Ebitda margin of 7.3 per cent.
