Net-a-Porter and Yoox confirm merger

Financiere Richemont SA agreed to merge its Net-a-Porter online fashion retail unit with Italian rival Yoox SpA.

Richemont will own 50 percent of the combined company, to be called Yoox Net-a-Porter Group, the Geneva-based owner of the Cartier and Chloe brands said in a statement Tuesday. It will be traded on the Italian stock exchange.

Yoox Net-a-Porter plans a capital increase of as much as 200 million euros after the transaction to raise funds for expansion and gain new shareholders, said Richemont, which will participate. Richemont said it expects a one-time gain of about 317 million euros from the transaction.

The deal will bring together two former rivals (Yoox’s founder, Federico Marchetti, will be chief executive officer and Natalie Massenet, founder of Net-a-Porter will become executive chairman) who started their pioneering luxury companies long before the luxury internet goldrush.