Prada prices HK listing
ITALIAN fashion house Prada is pricing its initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong to raise up to $2.6bn (£1.6bn) and give the maker of luxury bags and Miu Miu dresses a higher valuation than its European peers.
Prada set an indicative price range of HK$36.5 to HK$48 (£2.90 to £3.80) a share for the IPO, a source said yesterday, valuing the company at between $11.4bn and $14.6bn.
Prada, which started meeting investors in Singapore to gauge appetite for the deal, is the first Italian company to float in Hong Kong as it seeks to tap an Asian consumer market that accounted for 40 per cent of the group’s €2bn sales in 2010.
After scrapping several attempts to list its shares in the past, Prada is offering 16.5 per cent of its enlarged capital, or 423.3m shares – valuing the IPO at up to $2.6bn.
At the top end of the range, the IPO is being priced at 27 times projected 2011 earnings, higher than the average of European top luxury groups such as Tod’s, Burberry and LVMH.
Official documents submitted to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange last week ahead of the listing revealed Prada chairwoman Miuccia Prada (pictured) as one of the highest-paid people in fashion, taking home £8.6m in 2010.