Fraser Group is said to be considering a bid for YNAP. | kbnmart

Is Fraser Group planning another surprise purchase in luxury e-tailing? Perhaps. It has reportedly approached the investment bank handling the sale of Richemont’s troubled online business Yoox Net-a-Porter (YNAP) with a view to buying it.

The acquisitive British retail group is said to have spoken to Goldman Sachs as it considers acquiring YNAP, with Retail Week reporting that the two parties are working on a non-disclosure agreement around the deal.

Richemont on Tuesday reported another drop in revenue for its YNAP unit, which has been struggling for years. The company had previously struck a deal with Farfetch to take it over before the latter’s troubles thwarted that prospect. The company has since been working to shed it, with the business still listed as a discontinued operation.

Although YNAP is a huge company overall and in better times would have been expected to fetch a big price, its long-term problems mean Richemont may be willing to sell operations for a negligible price.

However, there are concerns that this could mean Frasers could take over and close large parts of the business which includes luxury online retailers Yoox and The Outnet alongside big-time online retailers Net-A-Porter and Mr Porter.

Frasers has a history of taking this approach. It acquired Matches for just over £50m late last year, but three months later put it into administration and Matches has now closed for good.

The company also recently acquired Coggles from THG as part of a long-term partnership deal with the latter and it is still unclear what the future may hold for the acquisition.

But on the plus side, YNAP is generally a larger and more prominent company than Matches, and the THG tie-up means Frasers has access to advanced execution technology provided by THG’s Ingenuity arm. YNAP will also bring some key behind-the-scenes technology.

Frasers already has a presence in outlet sales through its acquired MySale operation, and seasonal businesses like Net-A-Porter are a major name in global luxury e-retail – much more so than Frasers’ luxury operation Flannels.com.