December 21, 2017
An IPO seems likely for Valention sometime soon, beating Giorgio Armani and Dolce & Gabanna. Image credit: Valentino
Investors may want to keep their eye on Valentino as the Italian fashion house topped Pambianco Strategie di Impresa’s list of luxury brands most likely to soon go public.
Ousting the previous top-spot, Giorgio Armani, Valentino is now the most likely luxury brand to go public, based on a survey conducted by Pambianco and citing comments from Valentino’s owner, Mayhoola, as possible indications of an IPO in the future. With this data, investors will have a better view of which companies in 2018 are likely to go public and can adjust their investing strategy accordingly.
"During 2017, we have witnessed an increasing number of IPO transactions globally," said David Pambianco, CEO of Pambianco Strategie di Impresa, Milan. "This is one of the best market moments of the last 10 years for the number of listings on the Milan Stock Exchange.
"Also the outlook for 2018 is certainly very positive in terms of investments for Italian and foreign investors."
Public options
Fashion and luxury brands are highly visible companies, and news of a big luxury brand going public is always a big deal for investors.
That is why Pambianco’s annual survey of which Italian fashion, luxury and furniture companies are closest to going public has served as a vital tool for investors in the last 12 years.
This year, Pambianco surveyed the top 50 Italian companies in fashion and luxury and the top 25 in furniture and design to compile its list.
Inside Valentino's pop-up at Hôtel Costes. Image credit: Valentino
The results showed that Valentino has taken the top spot as the company most likely to go public in the near future. Valentino has taken the top spot away from Giorgio Armani, which has been rumored for an IPO for several years now.
Rounding out the top three is Dolce & Gabanna, which rose in prominence from fifth place in the previous year’s iteration of Pambianco’s list.
The possibility of Valentino going public in the near future was made even more likely with a report from Reuters that the company has solid plans to go public in early 2018 with Mayhoola selling a quarter of the shares in the IPO (see story).
Valentino's efforts
Valentino’s recent efforts have focused on digital tools and offering unique pop-up physical experiences.
Valentino offered customers a way to experience its resort collection for 2018 in advance of its release with a series of pop-up “active spaces” around the globe.
These spaces opened in Tokyo, Milan, New York and Hong Kong for a limited time, giving customers a sneak preview of the new collection and its aesthetic themes. Pop-up experiences such as these can provide a unique, limited experience for customers that will help lodge the collection in their minds as its release nears (see story).
Similarly, Valentino’s creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli celebrated his Parisian “home away from home” by staging a temporary boutique within the hotel.
Pierpaolo Piccioli with Jean Louis Costes at the opening party. Image credit: Valentino
Opened on Sept. 26, the I Love Spike pop-up at Hôtel Costes allowed visitors to shop the brand’s fashions and enter a social media contest. Timed to coincide with Paris Fashion Week, this pop-up enabled Valentino to honor its hospitality ties while giving the hotel additional foot traffic from the fashion community (see story).
With Valentino’s fortunes on the rise, an IPO in the near future would allow investors to support the direction Valention has been moving over the last few years.
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