MILAN: Luxury goods maker Salvatore Ferragamo will apply to list on the Milan bourse in the next few days, a source close to the situation said, third Italian fashion group planning to go public this year.
The Tuscan leather goods company would join Milan fashion house Prada and high-end outerwear maker Moncler as they turn to equity markets to fund expansion in fast-growing emerging markets such as China.
The source, who has knowledge of the plan, told Reuters Ferragamo's initial public offering (IPO) could take place in July, confirming a report in the Italian media on Wednesday.
The IPO documents "will be filed in the next few days," the source said, adding it was still unclear how much of the company the controlling Ferragamo family would put on the market.
Italian financial daily MF said earlier on Wednesday that at least 30 percent of the capital would be floated, with a share offering also in the United States and Japan.
"I'm not surprised by the decision to list: it's now or never for these fashion companies that are betting on China," analyst said, requesting anonymity.
HIGH MULTIPLES
The analyst said Ferragamo could not be valued higher than domestic rival Tod's , whose enterprise value was 10 times its expected 2011 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA).
However, a second analyst said the luxury sector's average multiples of 12 or 13 times EBITDA would not be unreasonable for such a well-established brand.
Ferragamo said in March its 2010 EBITDA rose more than 80 percent to 113 million euros ($164 million), pointing to an overall enterprise value between 1.1 billion euros and 1.5 billion euros.
The company swung to profit last year thanks to a 26 percent increase in revenues to 782 million euros.
Talking about the timing of the IPO, the source said the "particularly encouraging" 2010 results may have influenced the decision to list.
Prada last month filed for an IPO in Hong Kong and two sources close to the issue have said it could seek a valuation of around 15 times 2010 core earnings
Marco De Benedetti, an executive with Moncler's leading shareholder Carlyle Group, said in February the company could be priced at 10 to 12 times 2011 EBITDA in an IPO in Milan. ($1=.6912 euros)
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