Farfetch Brings in $885M Through IPO |
Following its initial public offering IPO luxury fashion retailer Farfetch announced that it along with a shareholder sold 442 million shares at a price of 20 each That is above the 17 to 19 range at which the firm had advertised the shares Bloomberg reported The news comes as Farfetch announced in August that it was ready to go public An F-1 form filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission SEC revealed that the company planned to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker FTCH In anticipation of going public Farfetch announced in March that it was partnering with high-end department store Harvey Nichols which is the latest in a series of luxury partnerships that already include Burberry and Chanel The company was founded by Portuguese fashion entrepreneur José Neves in 2008 with the goal of creating an online marketplace for luxury boutiques and brands We want to become the global platform for luxury Neves said Department stores are very good at brand awareness and contact with their local customers Farfetch offers access to customers in China Japan and Korea as well as emerging markets like Russia and Latin America The average age of Farfetchs luxury shopper is 36 somewhat younger than usual which explains why brands like Harvey Nichols were enthusiastic to sign on And its F1 form revealed that as of December 31 2017 Farfetch had nearly 1 million active consumers making it the worlds largest marketplace for luxury goods according to the company Revenue for 2017 was 386 million a 594 percent increase over 2016 and its operating profit was 1369 million for the first six months of 2018 compared to 944 million in 2017 Farfetch is the leading technology platform for the global luxury fashion industry the company wrote in the prospectus We operate the only truly global luxury digital marketplace at scale seamlessly connecting brands retailers and consumers We are redefining how fashion is bought and sold through technology data and innovation