Luxury sports brand Golden Goose postpones plans for Milan listing

Italian luxury sports brand Golden Goose, famous for its distressed-looking trainers popular among celebrities such as Taylor Swift, has postponed plans for an imminent listing in Milan that would have been among the most high-profile initial public offerings in Europe this year.

The company, which is owned by British private equity group Permira, said on Tuesday that it had pushed back the IPO because of “the significant deterioration in market conditions following European parliament elections this month and the calling of a general election in France”. 

People familiar with the talks on the listing said the last-minute decision had followed a day of frantic discussions, and while Golden Goose was not worried about the launch price, there were fears that investors buying at the IPO would quickly sell once trading in the shares started.

The postponement comes just a day before Golden Goose had been set to price, and after bankers indicated earlier on Tuesday that the IPO was likely to be positioned towards the bottom end of the marketed range. 

One person briefed on the listing discussions said the price would probably have been set at about €9.75 a share, which was considered “fair”.

However, the high volatility of comparable stocks in recent weeks pushed management and Permira to opt for a postponement.

Golden Goose had been seeking to raise roughly €600mn at a market capitalisation of nearly €2bn. 

Chief executive Silvio Campara, who is the company’s second-largest shareholder and has been at its helm for six years, told the Financial Times last month that the “IPO is not a one-shot deal” and that prospective investors were “very excited about the story and [willing to support the group] along this journey on the good and bad days” in spite of market turbulence.

Campara said the IPO was the natural next step for the brand, popular among celebrities and bankers, as it aimed to strengthen its capital structure and reduce debt while attracting long-term investors.

Last week, Golden Goose announced Invesco had committed €100mn to the listing as a cornerstone backer.

However, investors who spoke on condition of anonymity said the situation on the market had been excessively volatile following the European parliament elections this month. “All signs are telling us to act cautiously in Europe. I think some of us got cold feet,” said one investor.

The global luxury sector has been facing a slowdown this year, but Golden Goose, whose “distressed” trainers sell for about €500 a pair, reported a 12 per cent rise in revenue in the first quarter, which had encouraged the company to move forward with its IPO plans.

The postponement is another blow for Permira, which floated British boot brand Dr Martens in London three years. Shares in the UK bootmaker have plunged since the IPO.