Korean giant Coupang leads rescue deal, taking Farfetch private

Coupang, a Korean Fortune 200 firm listed on the New York Stock Exchange, has come to the aid of struggling company Farfetch, acquiring the e-commerce platform. The move is projected to solidify Coupang as a dominant player in the $400 billion global personal luxury segment. Unknown to many, Coupang is also the leading e-commerce player in South Korea, one of the largest online retail markets worldwide. The company operates a payments division as well as a restaurant delivery service. Major global investment company Greenoaks also offered significant financial insight to the transaction, partnering with Coupang for the acquisition.

This strategic move combines Coupang's operational and innovative logistic strengths with Farfetch's standing in the luxury ecosystem to produce stellar experiences for customers, boutique shops, and brands across the globe. Furthermore, Coupang, owing to its unique position, aims to optimize the unending potential of Farfetch in the personal luxury goods sector in South Korea, which records the world's highest per-capita spending on personal luxury goods.

The agreement supplies Farfetch with access to $500 million capital, allowing it to continue offering exclusive brands and shops state-of-the-art technology and lending high-end designers access to consumers worldwide. Coupang Founder and CEO, Bom Kim, has recognized Farfetch for revolutionizing luxury retail, viewing the new acquisition as a benchmark in the luxury landscape. He expressed his expectations for Farfetch to relentlessly pursue its mission to provide the most superior experience for the world’s most exclusive brands, while embracing steady and thoughtful growth as a private company.

On the other side, Farfetch founder and CEO José Neves expressed his excitement about partnering with an experienced Fortune 200 company like Coupang. He believes this partnership will enable them to provide excellent service to their brand and boutique partners and their millions of customers worldwide. This rescue move was quite timely as Farfetch was nearly bankrupt, and its shares were on a steep decline.

However, there are still some questions unanswered, including whether Neves will stay on long term, where Farfetch will relocate its headquarters to, and whether or not it will offload assets such as New Guards Group and Browns. And how this will affect its YNAP deal with Richemont is also yet to be addressed. Richemont, however, has released a statement cancelling the deal. As for these questions, it could all be 'business as usual', but detailed specifics were not provided in the press release about the Coupang partnership. Therefore, time will tell.