Prada to raise up to $2.6 bln in Hong Kong IPO

Italian luxury fashion house Prada is set to raise as much as $2.6 billion after setting the price range for its highly anticipated offering in Hong Kong on June 24, a report said Monday. The Milan-based company plans to sell 423.28 million shares at an indicative price range of HK$36.50-HK$48.0 ($4.70-6.20) each, Dow Jones Newswires reported, quoting an unnamed source familiar with the deal. The IPO would raise $2 billion to $2.6 billion based on the range. The firm has an option to sell an additional 63.49 million shares if the shares are oversubscribed, according to Dow Jones. Prada's spokeswoman in Hong Kong could not be reached for comment by AFP. The company set its IPO price range as it began meeting with Asian investors and started bookbuilding for institutional investors Monday to gauge their appetite for the deal. It will launch the Hong Kong offering on June 14. The fashion house, which includes the Prada, Miu Miu, Church's and Car Shoe brands and is 95 percent owned by the Prada family and executives, is the latest high-end fashion brand to tap the huge Chinese market. Listings from high-end retailers such as US handbag maker Coach and luggage maker Samsonite are a sign of Asia's growing appetite for designer goods, especially among cash-rich Chinese mainlanders. 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. Prada plans to use proceeds from the Hong Kong IPO to expand it sales network, increase floor space, repay bank loans and supplement working capital.