MILAN — After 22 years, the Della Valle family is planning to delist Tod’s Group from the Italian Stock Exchange.
On Wednesday morning, the family said it is launching a tender offer to acquire 25.55% of the company’s shares at 40 euros per share. This is a 20.4% premium on the share price at the end of trading on Tuesday.
The announcement sent shares up 20.4% in early-morning trading on Wednesday, closing up 20.3% at 40.20 euros.
Brothers Diego and Andrea Della Valle control 63.64% of Tod’s shares. Delphine S.A.S. under the LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton Group will remain in the Tod’s capital with its current 10% stake.
DeVa Finance, entirely held by DI.VI. Finanziaria di Diego Della Valle & C., will be launching the tender offer, which could reach a 90% stake for a total of more than 338 million euros.
In a statement, the Della Valle family said the investment in the group would accelerate the development of the brands it controls: Tod’s, Roger Vivier, Hogan and Fay. The goal is to enhance the visibility of each label, strengthening their positioning in the high end of the market, and provide more operational autonomy.
As a public company, it would be more difficult “to reach these goal in the medium- and long-term,” given the “limitations derived by the need to report short-term results,” the statement said.
Accordingly, the Della Valle family “is determined to promote and sustain this project” in light of the quality of the brands, the group’s managerial structure and proven skills and experience of its artisans, it added.
In April last year, Diego Della Valle, chairman and CEO of the Tod’s Group, revealed that LVMH had increased its stake in his company up to 10% for a total of 74.5 million euros.
Diego Della Valle & C S.r.l., a company controlled by the Italian entrepreneur, entered into a sale and purchase agreement with Delphine S.A.S., a fully owned subsidiary of LVMH, for the sale of 2.25 million shares of Tod’s SpA, representing 6.8% of the capital. LVMH is a longtime investor in Tod’s, as it already owned 3.2%.
Analysts have for quite some time speculated on a possible sale of the Tod’s Group, pointing to LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault as a possible buyer. Della Valle has repeatedly denied the company was for sale and has over time bought back shares with his brother Andrea.
Tod’s has been rejuvenating its offer, reaching out to Gen Z, recently appointing digital entrepreneur Chiara Ferragni as a board member, focusing on digitalization and working on streamlining its wholesale distribution.
The strategy is working as the company has been reporting growth in revenues and encouraging signs of a turnaround.
In the three months ended March 31, sales rose 23% to 219.6 million euros year-over-year.
Revenues last year returned to hovering around pre-COVID-19 levels, driven by the acceleration of the Tod’s brand in the second half of the year and the strong growth of Roger Vivier.
As reported, in the 12 months ended Dec. 31, revenues amounted to 883.8 million euros, up 38.7% compared with 637.1 million euros in 2020.
This story was reported by WWD and originally appeared on WWD.com.
