Prada Handbags

Prada to float 20% of shares in Hong Kong: source

MILAN (AFP) – Italian luxury house Prada is planning to sell a 20 percent stake on the Hong Kong stock exchange in a move that would value the group at up to eight billion euros.

The fashion group filed a request for its highly anticipated public offering to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange late on Wednesday, a source close to the company told Dow Jones Newswires said Thursday.

Should Prada successfully sell the 20 percent stake to Hong Kong investors, the company's would be valued at between seven and eight billion euros ($9.9-11.3 billion), the source said.

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.

The group has been keen to be list its shares for several years but had previously held back due to uncertain market conditions.

The listing is likely to take place in June or July.

Last October, the fashion powerhouse announced that it had re-opened the dossier and was looking particularly at Hong Kong on top of other possibilities such as Milan or London.

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.

The group, which includes the Prada, Miu Miu, Church's and Car Shoe brands is 95 percent controlled by the Prada family and executives.