Italian fashion house Prada on Wednesday moved closer to going public by formally asking Banca IMI, UBM and Goldman Sachs to coordinate an initial public offer for next year, while Mediobanca was called in as financial advisor.
A note from Prada's board of directors said the IPO would be launched on the Milan stock market sometime in 2008 and when market conditions permitted.
UBM is part of Unicredit and Banca IMI is a division of Intesa SanPaolo, Italy's number one a two banks respectively.
Intesa and Unicredit have from the start been indicated as possible advisors for an IPO because Intesa holds a 5% stake in Prada while Unicredit not only was part of the pool of banks which restructured the group's debt, but also granted Prada a 200-million-euro medium-term loan.
Speaking on Wednesday, Prada CEO Patrizio Bertelli said that ''over the past few years Prada has embarked on a rigorous and successful reorganization program which has boosted earnings and consolidated its leadership position.
''Today we can approach the financial markets with a solid foundation, efficient industrial plan and a united and experienced management team''.
Financial sources have put Prada's value at between five and six billion euros.
Bertelli said this spring that Prada may go public and in July the group issued a statement to clarify that while an IPO was under consideration, the group was not up for sale.
Prada shelved plans to go public three times in 2001 and 2002 because the situations in either the stock market or the luxury fashion sector were poor.
Sector sources believe Prada wants go public in order to reduce its debt and finance its expansion.
Over the past year it has improved its financial situation saw an upturn in business.
Two years ago Prada restructured 700 million euros of debt and since then has reduced its debt through the sale of its loss-making labels Jil Sander and Helmut Lang, together with a 45% stake in the quality British shoemaker Church's.
Prada produces clothes and accessories under its own name as well as the trendy Miu Miu label.
Prada's financial woes began when it went on a buying spree in the 1990s and failed to turn around loss-making acquisitions which, aside from Jil Sander and Helmut Lang, included a stake in the Rome-based fashion house Fendi.
