Farfetch Limited, a technology platform for the global luxury fashion sector, has filed a proposed initial public offering of its Class A ordinary shares with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined. Farfetch has applied to list its Class A ordinary shares on the New York Stock Exchange. The 10-year-old company did not disclose the number of shares it would sell or the offer price per share.
Existing shareholders include China’s JD.com, which invested $397 million in 2017 and has agreed to buy more shares to maintain its stake after the listing, Farfetch said in its filing. Other investors include publisher Conde Nast and DST Global.
Farfetch said in its filing that for the 2017 fall/winter season, it had 3.9 million SKUs available in its Marketplace, with a stock value of $1.8 billion. Revenue was $386.0 million in 2017, up 59.4% over 2016. The company had gross profit of $207.77 million in 2017, with an after-tax loss of $112.28 million in 2017.
“We are reinventing how consumers discover and engage with luxury fashion,” the company said in the SEC filing. “We facilitate the discovery of new brands, provide tools to allow consumers to find the items they are looking for and inspire lovers of fashion around the world. We provide a unique, personalized experience based on our deep understanding of our consumers. Consumers choose our Marketplace because they trust we will deliver a consistent, high-quality experience from start to finish, while being able to access over 2,900 different brands as of March 31, 2018.”
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Goldman Sachs & Co., J.P. Morgan Securities, Allen & Company and UBS Securities are acting as joint lead book-running managers for the proposed offering.
In April, Farfetch partnered with Burberry and venture capital firm 500 Startups for its first Dream Assembly tech accelerator cohort. As many as 10 startups that join the accelerator based in Farfetch’s Lisbon headquarters stand to benefit from networking connections, one-on-one meetings with Farfetch executives, mentoring sessions on topics ranging from e-commerce and logistics to marketing, fashion and operations, and access to funding over the duration of the 12-week program.
In May, Farfetch launched fine jewelry and watches, with brands such as De Beers, Chopard, David Yurman, Pomellato, Tiffany & Co., Girard-Perregaux, TAG Heuer, Ulysse Nardin and Zenith. Through its marketplace model, technology and logistics network, these brand partners will be able to sell the best of their own product to a new global audience and for some, new geographies, the company said.