Yoox Net-a-Porter, an e-commerce group that calls itself the “world’s biggest luxury fashion store,” is getting a foothold in the a 100 million-euro stake sale to Alabbar Enterprises, the Dubai-based owner of Emaar Properties, which includes the Dubai Mall, the world’s most-visited luxury shopping mall.

“The world’s biggest online retailer is joining forces with the world’s biggest brick-and-mortar retailer,” Federico Marchetti, chief executive of Yoox Net-a-Porter, according to a report in The New York Times.

In a deal announced on Tuesday in Milan, Alabbar, which is controlled by Mohamed Alabbar, will pay 28 euros a share, a premium of 5.7 per cent on the closing share price of Yoox Net-a-Porter on Monday. The deal values the company at 3.7 billion euros ($4.2 billion). Richemont, the former parent of Net-a-Porter, will remain the group’s largest shareholder; Alabbar will have 4 per cent of ordinary shares.

It is the biggest move Marchetti has made since Yoox merged with Net-a-Porter in March 2015. Natalie Massenet, the founder of Net-a-Porter, who was expected to be executive chairperson, resigned from the group a few months later.

The company’s shares rose 7.4 per cent Tuesday morning in Milan, before paring their gains and closing at 27.80 euros, a 5 per cent increase.

The investment is also a vote of confidence in the future of Yoox Net-a-Porter without Ms. Massenet, who was widely seen as having the trust of the luxury world, and with Marchetti, who founded Yoox as an off-season sale site, cast in the role of corporate manager.

Marchetti said the money would be used to develop an integrated platform across the group’s brands, as well as to fund increased localization of websites, especially in Middle Eastern countries.