Luxury shoemaker Tod’s announces Milan delisting

Italy’s billionaire Della Valle family has announced plans to buy out minority shareholders in luxury shoemaker Tod’s and delist the company from the Milan stock exchange.

The family said it would offer €40 a share to investors, a 20 per cent premium to Monday’s closing price, to buy 25.55 per cent of the company. Tod’s market capitalisation fell to about €1.1bn this year, a drop of more than 40 per cent from 2017 when chief executive Diego Della Valle announced a turnround plan to revive sales.

The group, which includes brands such as Roger Vivier, Fay and Hogan’s, has been listed on Borsa Italiana since 2000. Sales have struggled though, and the company took a larger hit than its peers during the pandemic.

In 2021, a €75mn investment in Tod’s by Della Valle’s long-time friend Bernard Arnault of LVMH fuelled speculation that Della Valle was thinking of selling the company. Speaking at the FT’s Business of Luxury summit a few months later, Della Valle — who owns more than 63 per cent of the group — said he was planning to gradually step back from the company’s daily management.

The family said in a statement on Tuesday that their “substantial investment” would allow the group to focus on revamping its brands to concentrate on the higher end of the luxury market.