Italy's Moleskine will open books on Monday on an initial public offer (IPO) valuing the maker of black notebooks at up to 561 million euros ($733 million) and bringing a majority stake onto the market. The maker of thread-bound jotters based on originals favoured by Vincent Van Gogh and Ernest Hemingway will become the fourth premium Italian brand to go public in under two years, and tap into a stock market that is trading close to multi-year highs.
It said in an prospectus on Saturday that it will offer shares for between 2.00 and 2.65 euros, and aim to start trading on the Milan exchange on April 3. Moleskine is offering 106.3 million shares, including 12 million new ones, at a valuation of between 10 and 14 times forecast 2013 core earnings (EBITDA) of 40 million euros. At the top end of that range, the company would be valued in line with upscale brands such as Michael Kors, Tumi and Brunello Cucinelli, the last Italian company to tap the stock market almost a year ago. If the capital increase is fully subscribed, Moleskine would be valued between 424 million and 561.8 million euros, or up to 600 million euros including debt, netting its current owners a gain of up to 250 million euros.
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