May 21, 2011
HONG KONG (AFP) - Italian luxury fashion house Prada has been given the green light to launch an initial public offering in Hong Kong in June, in which it aims to raise up to US$2 billion, a report said Friday.
The family-owned fashion giant is looking to begin bookbuilding for institutional investors in the second week of June after receiving regulatory approval in the southern Chinese city, Dow Jones Newswires reported, quoting an unnamed source.
The Hong Kong Stock Exchange said they would not comment on any listing application status, while Prada's spokeswoman in Hong Kong did not immediately return calls from AFP.
The Milan-based group filed a request for its highly anticipated public offering in March, in an offer which it plans to sell 20 percent of its shares. The move would value the group at up to eight billion euros ($11.3 billion).
Prada, which includes the Prada, Miu Miu, Church's and Car Shoe brands is 95 percent controlled by the Prada family and executives.
Prada announced in January it would make its first public listing on the Hong Kong bourse in a sign of Asia's growing appetite for designer goods, especially to tap the cash-rich mainland Chinese markets.
China is the world's fastest-growing market for luxury goods.
It is forecast to be the world's top buyer of products such as cosmetics, handbags, watches, shoes and clothes by 2015, according to consultancy PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
It will join a slew of other luxury fashion brands also eyeing a listing in Hong Kong, including US upscale handbag maker Coach and luggage maker Samsonite.
