LONDON, March 14, 2010 (AFP) - Swiss group Richemont has made a bid approach for the luxury clothes online retailer Net-a-Porter, British newspapers said Sunday 14 March.

Cartier, a Richemont group watch

The deal would make the company worth up to 350 million pounds (530 million dollars, 385 million euros), The Sunday Times and The Sunday Telegraph reported.

Geneva-based Richemont, which is home to leading brands including Cartier and Alfred Dunhill, already controls a 29 percent stake in Net-a-Porter.

The website was created in 2000 by French former fashion journalist Natalie Massenet. She owns an 18 percent stake.

Net-a-Porter features labels such as Jimmy Choo, Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney and Givenchy. Its site is visited by around two million women every month. The company employs more than 800 people in London and New York.

It defied the recession in the 12 months to January 2009 after notching up a 234 percent rise in pre-tax profits to 10.1 million pounds on sales of 81.5 million pounds.

The Sunday Telegraph said the deal would give Richemont the chance to sell its brands on the site.

Net-a-Porter could not be reached Sunday 14 March, which Richemont declined to comment, according to newspapers.