Nice Footwear, an Italian company specializing in the production and sourcing of sneakers, is being listed on the Euronex Growth market in Milan. The company set a price range of €9.00-€11.00 per share, valuing the company at between €13.5 million and €16.5 million, representing 4.87 to 5.95 times last year’s pro forma Ebitda.
Bookbuilding started on Nov. 3 and is set to run until Nov. 10, unless it is closed earlier. The offering is limited to qualified investors.
In the financial year ended in April 30, 2021, Nice Footwear posted Ebitda of €2.774 million on pro forma sales of €23.655 million, leading to a net profit of €1.195 million. The data varies from figures previously released by the company because they include Favaro Manifattura Calzaturiera, an Italian shoe manufacturing company that was bought in the summer. The acquisition contributed €2.5 million to pro forma revenues for the year ended in April.
The company aims to raise up to €5 million in gross proceeds in the IPO through a capital increase. The monies will be used for the company’s development and expansion abroad. The size of the transaction could be raised to meet excess demand through a €0.5 million over-allotment option.
Nice Footwear also plans to issue one warrant for every ten shares bought in the offering. It will further grant one warrant for every ten shares held to all shareholders after the listing. The warrants will also be traded on Euronext Growth.
Nice Footwear’s chairman and chief executive, Bruno Conterno, reiterated that the company is “ready for a new positioning aimed at creating an Italian hub of excellence in the design and production of sneakers.” He explained to Shoe Intelligence that, after the acquisition of Favaro, Nice Footwear attracted ”great interest” from other companies situated in the Riviera del Brenta footwear cluster near Venice, where Favaro is located, that wish to join the hub it is building.
Nice Footwear intends to aggregate other companies in the cluster and could evaluate next year the acquisition of manufacturers of finished and semi-finished products as well as components. Conterno noted that it is crucial to control the supply chain in the wake of the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
