Dubai-based Symphony Investments has entered into a $138.5m joint venture (JV) with Yoox Net-A-Porter (YNAP), an online luxury fashion brand.
Signed between YNAP and Symphony Investments, this deal aims to establish an online retail platform in the Middle East, reported Gulfbusiness.com.
YNAP will own 60% of the JV while Symphony will own the remaining stake.
This deal includes the retailer's existing online stores such as Net-A-Porter, Mr Porter, Yoox and The Outnet, along with future online stores in the region.
Yoox and the Outnet are expected to begin operations in 2018, while Net-A-Porter and Mr.Porter are expected to commence the following year.
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A local office and a distribution centre will be opened by the new company in Dubai by the end of next year.
The firm will initially operate in GCC and later expand to other countries in the Middle East and North Africa.
The latest agreement comes following an acquisition of 4% stake in YNAP for €100m by Alabbar in April.
Alabbar was quoted by the website as saying: “The Middle East is a sizeable market for e-commerce and specifically for online luxury fashion retail.
“The market goes through cycles and we have good years and bad years. For now, the market is okay, maybe not as rosy as the previous years, but we are looking at a long-term investment of ten to 15 years.
"We believe that digital is the path ahead. E-commerce is still in its baby stages here and we think that scale and velocity is needed in the market. We need to be a regional player."
