Prada expects to join Richemont-Farfetch talks over joint online platform

Prada expects to be involved in talks between Cartier owner Richemont and online retailer Farftech about launching a joint e-commerce platform, the Italian group's maketing chief said on Thursday.

Richemont said last week it was in advanced talks with Farfetch about selling it a minority stake in its loss-making online business Yoox Net-a-Porter (YNAP). It said it would also invite other firms besides Farfetch to participate in turning YNAP into a neutral, industry-wide retail platform with no overall controlling shareholder.

Asked if Prada would be interested in taking part in such a venture, Lorenzo Bertelli told reporters: "I really don't want to comment further but we are a commercial partner and I think for this reason and not only for this we will be invited to participate in the discussions."