International law firms Taylor Wessing and Latham & Watkins have advised Farfetch, the online community of the world’s best fashion boutiques and global brands, on the company’s strategic partnership with e-commerce giant JD.com. This deal will create a premiere platform for luxury e-commerce across China and provide a gateway to an $80bn market.
As part of this partnership, JD.com will become one of the largest shareholders of Farfetch, investing $397 million, and Richard Liu, JD.com’s founder and CEO, will join the Farfetch board, alongside Dame Natalie Massenet and Jonathan Newhouse. JD and Farfetch will partner on marketing, logistics and technology solutions to build the brand in China, while Farfetch will continue to be the customer-facing brand.
Farfetch has well-established operations in China and is already the partner of choice for 200 luxury brands and more than 500 multi-brand retailers. The company was founded in 2008 by José Neves, a Portuguese entrepreneur who has been involved in the world of fashion start-ups since the mid-1990s. With offices in London, New York, Los Angeles, São Paulo, Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Moscow and Porto, Farfetch is a global community of 700 visionary brands and boutiques offering an inspirational shopping experience to fashion-forward consumers.
James Maynard, General Counsel at Farfetch commented: “At Farfetch we champion collaboration and innovation. The teams at Taylor Wessing and Latham excelled on both counts and demonstrated a deep understanding of the Farfetch business. We are delighted to have such a respected partner in JD.com, known for its strict protection of IP, with whom to address Chinese luxury consumers.”
Mike Turner, International Head of Technology, Media & Communications at Taylor Wessing added: “Farfetch once again proves what an industry-leading, pioneering company it is with its partnership with JD.com. This is the latest of several exciting projects we have advised James and the team on across the firm and we look forward to working with them again as they continue to make incredible strides in the global fashion retail market as the world’s luxury online pioneer.”
“The rapidly expanding Chinese market represents a fantastic opportunity for Farfetch, and we are delighted to have supported the team on this groundbreaking transaction.” added Joshua Kiernan, corporate partner at Latham & Watkins.
The Farfetch in-house team was led by General Counsel James Maynard, assisted by Dimple Purohit and Natasha Weisfeld.
The Taylor Wessing team was led by Partners Mike Turner and Graham Hann and Associates Adam Thatcher and John Finlay. Partner Angus Miln is also a key part of the Taylor Wessing/Farfetch client team having worked with Farfetch at his previous firm before joining Taylor Wessing last year.
The cross-border Latham & Watkins team was led by London partners Joshua Kiernan and Robbie McLaren, with associates Jennifer Gascoyne and Gillian Bourke and New York partners Ian Schuman and Marc Jaffe.
