Golden Goose targets $2 billion market cap in IPO, below expectations

By Elisa Anzolin

MILAN (Reuters) -Italian luxury sneaker maker Golden Goose is aiming for a market capitalisation of up to 1.86 billion euros ($2 billion) in its initial public offering (IPO) on the Milan bourse, below earlier expectations.

The IPO of Golden Goose, which sells shoes for around 500 euros a pair, will be the largest in Italy since gambling firm Lottomatica listed more than a year ago.

Golden Goose, owned by private equity firm Permira, said on Tuesday it set a price range of 9.50 euros to 10.50 euros for the share listing, and expected to raise up to 558 million euros before exercising the overallotment option.

At the top of the price range, the company's enterprise value is estimated at roughly 2.4 billion euros, according to a Reuters calculation.

The valuation is lower than initially expected by Permira. Sources close to the deal told Reuters in April that the main Golden Goose shareholder had aimed for an enterprise value of around 3 billion euros.

In 2020, Golden Goose was valued at 1.3 billion euros when it was acquired by Permira.

Permira has taken a very conservative approach and priced the offering constructively to ensure a strong aftermarket, a source close to the company told Reuters.

The share offering, of around 30% of the total capital, will consist mainly of shares sold by shareholders.

Funds advised by investment management firm Invesco Advisers will act as cornerstone investors and acquire 100 million euros of shares in the offering, Golden Goose said.

The offer period will start on June 13 and end on June 18. The first day of trading is expected to be June 21.

BofA, JPMorgan, Mediobanca and UBS will act as joint global coordinators in the IPO, with BNP Paribas, Citigroup and UniCredit as joint bookrunners.

($1 = 0.9287 euros)

(Reporting by Elisa Anzolin; editing by Giulia Segreti, Jason Neely and Shinjini Ganguli)