E-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc. is in talks to buy London-based online luxury retailer Net-a-Porter. However, this deal is far from complete; experts say that negotiations are still in the early stages. A person familiar with the matter has informed Forbes last Thursday. This potential acquisition deal could be Amazon’s biggest if finalized. This deal was first reported by Women’s Wear Daily. The report also noted that a successful completion of this deal will value Net-a-Porter lower than its current valuation of 2 billion euros.

It has been known that Amazon has been checking out the high-end fashion retail sector for quite some time now. Acquiring Net-a-Porter, which is owned by Swiss firm Compagnie Financière Richemont, would mean that there will be a new segment where it is lacking. This was according to Forbes report. Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos had told the New York Times in 2012 that the company is planning on making a “significant” investment in world’s top luxury brands.

In August 2014, Amazon bought video-game streaming company Twitch for about $1.1 billion in cash.  Amazon.com also acquired online shoe retailer Zappos for $1.2 billion in 2009. It was also reported that Amazon is in talks to purchase Indian fashion retailer Jabong.com for $1.2 billion. This was a report confirmed by Reuters.

“It’s Day 1 in the category,” Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos told the New York Times in an interview in 2012. Bezos mentioned this revealing that the company was making a “significant” investment in fashion. This was to convince top brands that the online shopping giant wanted to work with them and not against them.

Media reports also said that in 2014 Amazon was in talks to buy Indian fashion retailer Jabong.com for $1.2 billion. Net-a-Porter on the other hand is owned by luxury goods company Richemont. This giant has bought the London-based company for 392 million euros back in 2010.

Amazon.com, Net-a-Porter and Richemont could not be reached for comment outside regular business hours. Reports of the possible acquisition will be provided on the following weeks should a talk happen between the two companies.

By AL Mijares

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc. is an American electronic commerce company with headquarters in Seattle, Washington. Amazon is the largest Internet-based retailer in the United States. Amazon.com started as an online bookstore, but soon diversified and is now selling DVDs, VHSs, CDs, video and MP3 downloads/streaming, software, video games, electronics, apparel, furniture, food, toys, and jewelry. Amazon also produces consumer electronics such as Amazon Kindle e-book readers, Fire tablets, Fire TV and Fire Phone. It is also currently a major provider of cloud computing services. Amazon also sells low-end products like USB cables under its in-house brand AmazonBasics.

Amazon.com has separate retail websites for United States, United Kingdom & Ireland, France, Canada, Germany, The Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Australia, Brazil, Japan, China, India and Mexico. Amazon India on the other hand will soon start offering music, movie and video streaming services in India. Amazon also offers international shipping to certain other countries for some of its products.  In 2011, it mentioned that it wanted to create websites in Poland and in Sweden. Amazon.com stock market evolution: http://quotes.wsj.com/AMZN

About Jeff Bezos

Jeffrey Preston “Jeff” Bezos is an American business magnate and investor. He is a technology entrepreneur with a key role in the growth of e-commerce. He is the founder and CEO of Amazon.com, an online merchant of books and later of a wide variety of products. Through Bezos, Amazon.com became the largest retailer on the World Wide Web and a top model for Internet sales. In 2013, Bezos purchased The Washington Post newspaper. As of March 2015, Bezos’s personal wealth is estimated to be US$34.8 billion. This ranks him number 15 on the Forbes list of billionaires.

About Net –a – Porter

Net-a-Porter is a high-fashion retailer that operates via a magazine website. It was launched in London in June, 2000 by Natalie Massenet. Net – a – Porter has multiple fashion retailing sites and some 2,600 employees, it is part of the Swiss holding company Richemont. It has approximately 2.5 million unique visits in internet traffic to their website every month.

About Richemont

Compagnie Financière Richemont SA  is the owner of Dunhill, Baume & Mercier SA, Cartier, IWC International Watch Co. AG, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Montblanc, Piaget SA, Manufacture Roger Dubuis SA, Vacheron Constantin SA, and Van Cleef & Arpels, is a Switzerland-based luxury goods holding company founded in 1988 by South African businessman Johann Rupert. Through its various subsidiaries, Richemont designs, manufactures, distributes and sells premium jewelry, watches, and leather goods, writing instruments, firearms, clothing and accessories. Richemont is publicly traded as CFR on the SIX Swiss Exchange and the JSE Securities Exchange. Richemont stock market evolution: http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/CFR:VX