It leaves founder, CEO and chairman Federico Marchetti slightly richer: the entrepreneur is now €21 million (£19.11 million) better off, as Bloomberg notes. One of the key investors selling shares in the IPO is London VC firm Balderton Capital, which first invested in Yoox in 2002 and was its largest institutional investor—although it still retains a post-offering holding and remains its biggest single shareholder.

The Bolgna-based company launched in 2000 and sells big fashion brand clothes in 57 countries through its own portal, as well as managing e-tail sites for brands such as Roberto Cavalli. The company made €101.8 million (£92.66 million) in revenue in 2008; for the first nine months of the year, revenue rose 49 percent to €106.7 million (£97.1 million), while profit reached €2.8 million (£2.54 million).