LVMH helps Tod’s to exit stock exchange

Italian luxury leather group Tod’s is quitting the Milan Stock Exchange after more than twenty years, hoping to become more flexible.

Turnaround in private

The Italian luxury brand is getting itself delisted with the help of none other than LVMH owner Bernard Arnault. Investment firm L Catterton – a collaboration between a private equity firm, Bernard Arnault’s family vehicle and LVMH itself – is taking a 36 % stake in Tod’s, while the current Della Valle family of owners holds a majority stake of 54%. LVMH already had a 10 % stake in Tod’s and it will remain so after the deal.

L Catterton is paying 512 million euros for the shares, which values Tod’s at 1.4 billion euros (excluding debt), the Financial Times reports. For the investor, the delisting is a prerequisite for Tod’s to grow and consolidate further, with a more flexible organisation and faster decision-making.

The Della Valle family already wanted to delist Tod’s two years ago, but did not find enough funds at the time to do so. The group’s sales have been under pressure for a decade, and in the public eye it would be harder to build a long-term strategy. Last year, however, sales already climbed again, rising 11.9 % to 1.1 billion euros. All brands recorded double-digit growth.