Farfetch IPO Raises €754M, New Shareholder PETA Says 'Stop Selling Fur'

Portugal’s first unicorn, luxury fashion platform Farfetch, raises €754 million ($885 million) in its Initial Public Offering on Friday while animal rights group PETA urges Farfetch to stop selling fur.

Farfetch is trading at a richer valuation than Amazon

According to Bloomberg, “The London-based company’s shares climbed as much as 53 percent on their first day of trading Friday.

“Farfetch and an existing stockholder sold 44.2 million shares Thursday at $20 each, topping the marketed range of $17 to $19, to raise $885 million. The stock closed up 42 percent to $28.45, giving the company a market value of $8.2 billion.”

Farfetch should continue to record high growth rates in the future

And CNBC reported that “With a $6.2 billion market price and $385 million in 2017 revenue, Farfetch is trading at a richer valuation than Amazon, JD.com as well as other traditional retailers.”

Investment bank BiG, in a note sent to the newsrooms, said that Farfetch “should continue to record high growth rates in the future,” supported in particular by the growth of the luxury market, and the geographical distribution of consumers as the company also has a strong presence in Asia.

“However, this growth will have to be accompanied by intelligent margin management so that the company can be profitable in the long term. We believe that the positive potential of Farfetch is based on the possibility that it will become the Amazon of the luxury market – a ‘one stop shop’ for luxury goods. ”

BiG also pointed out that “there are currently no publicly traded companies with a profile equal to Farfetch.” Therefore, “we chose to compare the company to a set of peers operating in the same segments as this – online commerce (Amazon and Alibaba) and Luxo (LVMH and Kering).”

Shareholder PETA Urges Farfetch to Stop Selling Fur

After Farfetch was listed on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, animal rights organization PETA became one of its first shareholders in a move that will allow the animal rights organization to attend the company’s annual meetings and urge it to end the sale of fur garments on its website.

PETA is taking the campaign against Farfetch’s website of horrors

“The fur industry is headed for the history books, as modern, high-end designers are saying no to pelts and yes to beautiful and innovative vegan fabrics,” said PETA U.K. Director of Corporate Projects Yvonne Taylor in a statement.

“PETA is taking the campaign against Farfetch’s website of horrors—which includes vile products made from foxes, coyotes, chinchillas, and badgers and even fur garments for children—straight to its annual meetings and demanding a ban on fur sales,” she added.

After 2019 there will no longer be any products made from fur or endangered species

Farfetch contacted FashionUnited and stressed its existing ethical sourcing policy, available on the company’s website, which already includes a fur ban, set to be implemented from 31 December 2019.

“After this date, there will no longer be any products made from fur or endangered species,” said a company representative.

Farfetch added that it requires all fur products currently listed on its platform to be certified by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Farfetch Partners With Dubai-based Ecommerce Platform Modist

Following Farfetch’s IPO last Friday, a Dubai-based e-commerce website Modist, which focuses on modest fashion announced a global partnership with Farfetch.

Modist was founded in 2017 by Algerian entrepreneur Ghizlan Guenez after she recognised a gap in the market for conservative fashion that was in line with global trends. The firm operates a website in English and Arabic.

Its collaboration with Farfetch will see it bring luxury modest dressing to a global audience in reflection to consumer demand.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with Farfetch focused exclusively on luxury modest fashion that changes the fashion game,” said The Modist founder and CEO Guenez.

“We both recognize the complementary nature of our businesses and with Farfetch’s global reach and The Modist’s deep understanding of the consumer in the modest fashion market, we will reach our woman worldwide, bringing her the best of fashion in a relevant and curated way.

Portugal’s 1st Unicorn, Farfetch

In March of 2015, Farfetch became the first Portuguese company to valued at $1 billion.

Farfetch was created in 2008 close to Porto, Portugal by a Portuguese founder, José Neves. Legally the company is British and they have offices in London, New York, Los Angeles, São Paulo and Porto but the genetic is all Portuguese.

The Portugese startup’s international success drew the attention of a €300 million startup scaleup investment fund.