French multinational PPR, which owns the Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Puma and Volcom brands, is investing in one of the most rapidly developing segments of the Russian online marketplace — clothing retail.
The group acquired a stake in Bigfoot I, which owns Russian online retailer Lamoda.ru and its South American counterpart Dafiti, for 10 million euros ($13 million), PPR spokeswoman Yelena Saint-Raymond told Vedomosti.
"PPR believes in the high potential of the investment in a company operating on a fast growing market," she said, declining to comment further. A source close to the founders of Lamoda.ru confirmed the transaction and said an official announcement should be made next week.
Funds from the PPR investment will be used for expanding the brand portfolio and geographic presence, as well as for improving logistics, said a source at Lamoda.ru. The site has about 14 million visitors a month, the source said.
Sales data for the online store are not publicized. But according to available information, with 500,000 regular customers and an estimated average sale of 120 euros, turnover could be 60 million euros.
Lamoda.ru was created by German startup incubator Rocket Internet and sells clothing, footwear and accessories. The website was not in the top-five list for Internet revenue last year, said InSales CEO Timofei Gorshkov.
Gorshkov estimated that last year's list was topped by Quelle with 2.5 billion rubles ($79 million) in turnover, followed by KupiVIP with 2.3 billion rubles, Wildberries with 2.3 billion rubles, Otto with 1.7 billion rubles and Laredoute with 1.3 billion rubles.
