Sneaker maker Golden Goose postpones IPO amid European political turmoil

Italian luxury sneaker maker Golden Goose has postponed its initial public offering on the Milan bourse because of market volatility arising from political uncertainty in Europe, the company said on Tuesday.

This is the first company to pull its IPO as a result of the market upheaval caused by elections in Europe. Another company, Equinor, suspended the sale of its stake in the Rosebank oil development in the North Sea last week, also citing political uncertainty.

Golden Goose, which was scheduled to be listed on June 21, said this was not the right environment to take the company public, citing market deterioration after the European parliamentary elections and the calling of snap general elections in France.

The recently announced French elections, in particular, hit markets hard and impacted the luxury sector, including luxury clothing group Moncler, one of the companies Golden Goose was being priced against, a person familiar with the development said.

Moncler’s shares were down 2.7% on Tuesday and nearly 6% since the announcement of Golden Goose’s IPO plans.

Golden Goose, which sells shoes for around 500 euros a pair, said it would consider reviving an IPO “in due course”.

With asset manager Invesco acting as a cornerstone, it said investors had been receptive and its business was continuing to perform well.

Earlier in the day, bookrunners said the IPO was oversubscribed multiple times, at 9.75 euros ($10.47) per share. It was earlier estimated to be priced between 9.50 euros and 10.50 euros per share.

Golden Goose, owned by private equity firm Permira, was aiming at a market capitalization of up to 1.86 billion euros, which was below expectations.

Its IPO was supposed to be the largest in Italy since gambling firm Lottomatica was listed more than a year ago.