MILAN — The Milan Stock Exchange in the first half saw the delisting of Tod’s and the postponement of the Golden Goose initial public offering, so eyes will be on the two companies’ next development steps going forward.
Tod’s succeeded to delist after a failed attempt in 2022. In May, the Italian luxury group reported that the offer of Tod’s shares promoted by Crown Bidco Srl, an L Catterton affiliate backed by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, had reached an aggregate stake greater than 90 percent of the share capital, the threshold necessary for the company’s delisting.
Diego Della Valle, chairman and chief executive officer of the group, said the delisting through the 1.4 billion euro deal came at the right time. “We made this choice to develop the full potential of our individual brands, making all the necessary investments in a timeline we deem most suitable. We have a great growth opportunity and we will try to seize it, operating with a long-term horizon.”
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The Tod’s Group controls the Tod’s brand as well as Roger Vivier, Hogan and Fay, and Della Valle has long expressed his belief that the company was undervalued by the stock market and that he wanted to have more flexibility and freedom to further develop each brand without the quarterly scrutiny of investors. He has had a taste of this freedom with Schiaparelli, which is outside of the Tod’s Group perimeter. The legendary French house is enjoying strong momentum under the creative leadership of Daniel Roseberry after several years of investment since Della Valle acquired the brand in 2007.
Partnering with L Catterton and LVMH, with which Tod’s shared its entry on the Bourse more than 20 years ago, will also help the company to be more competitive, given the increasing concentration of major luxury groups, analysts observed.
As for Golden Goose, it surprised the market in June by suspending its highly anticipated listing at the 11th hour, explaining that the decision was made “as a result of European market volatility,” and that the IPO would be “reassessed in due course.” No timing was provided, although sources indicated it could be delayed until 2025.
“The financial market and the real world are quite disconnected,” Golden Goose CEO Silvio Campara told WWD sister publication FN during its June CEO Summit in Manhattan. Pointing to the recent elections in France and the U.K. and the upcoming session in the U.S. “freezing the world,” Campara said the company was waiting “for a much more calm and steady market scenario to go public. I don’t think now would be a good time to be represented in the market. But we will be back.”
The postponement was not related to the response from the market, the company claimed at the time, stating that “the book of demand was covered across the price range from the first hour of book-building and is well oversubscribed across the range.”
In the meantime, Campara has said Golden Goose plans to double down on offering interactive experiences to its customers, from the Haus of Dreamers and the Forward store concept to the Younique cafés following the opening of the first unit in Bangkok.
Golden Goose was established in 2000, and is best known for its successful Superstar sneakers and intentionally distressed styles. The company in 2023 registered sales of 587 million euros, an increase of 18 percent compared with 2022.
As reported, the price range of Golden Goose shares was set between 9.50 and 10.50 euros, implying a market capitalization of about 1.69 billion to 1.86 billion euros and 30 percent of the capital was to be floated. In 2020, the company was acquired by the private equity fund Permira from the Carlyle Europe buyout fund. The price tag was 1.28 billion euros.