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Della Valle secures financing to take Tod's private

headshot
Diego Della Valle, the CEO of luxury brand Tod's, wears a dark coat at a fashion show in Paris.

Photo: Jacopo Raule/Getty Images

Italian businessman Diego Della Valle secured a €420 million ($409 million) loan from BNP Paribas' BNL unit, Crédit Agricole and Deutsche Bank to purchase the remaining shares in Italian leather goods company Tod's, Bloomberg reports.

Why it's the BFD: While retail M&A has struggled, the luxury market is percolating with potential deals from Tom Ford to Giorgio Armani, and the ability of Tod's CEO to secure financing is a positive sign there may be more transactions this year.

Details: The Della Valle family will use a 49% stake in Tod's as collateral for the financing.

  • The offer is for an approximately 26% stake and is slated to start today at €40 per share.

Catch up fast: In early August the Della Valle family offered €40 per share, a 20% premium to Aug. 2's closing price, or €338 million to buy out other investors.

  • The deal would value the entire company at roughly €1.3 billion.
  • Luxury conglomerate LVMH, however, would retain a 10% stake.
  • The family hopes to improve the struggling luxury brand's fortunes as a private company.

Flashback: Tod's, founded in 1900 and headquartered in Italy's Marche region, has been listed on the Milan exchange since 2000.

  • Tod's sold a 6.8% stake to LVMH, which already owned a 3.2% stake, for €75 million last year.

The bottom line: Though the leveraged finance markets have cooled, lender appetite remains strong, especially for high-quality assets.

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