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Williams Formula One Racing Team Offered on Frankfurt Stock Exchange

Have you ever wanted to own an Formula One team? Usually that would cost you millions upon millions of dollars, the kind of cash that only an automaker (like Ferrari or Mercedes-Benz) or an incredibly wealthy individual (like Richard Branson or Vijay Mallya) could afford. But the Williams F1 team is offering an unprecedented opportunity to get in on the ground floor.

For the first time in F1 history, the team will offer publicly-traded shares on the open stock market – in this case the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. It's part of an effort to raise capital and ensure the team's future as its leadership – Frank Williams and Patrick Head – are growing older.

Although the team has nine world championships to its name, these days it's having trouble keeping up with the competition.

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Tags: Frankfurt Stock Exchange, ipo, shares, stock, stock market, williams, williams f1, williams grand prix engineering

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Prada's IPO Gets Closer To Reality

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Ah, the Prada IPO, we've been talking about this one for a while but now it seems like it might actually happen as rumors increase that the brand will float shares on the Milan and Hong Kong stock exchanges. Long before this blog began, Prada began its journey toward an initial public offering only to shelve the plan after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Back in 2008 Prada was ready to make a new go of it but then the global recession reared its ugly head. At the start of 2009, Prada asked banks to ease the terms on its debt. The Italian fashion house renegotiated some of its debt in order to have ready cash to create more stores. It had a net debt of around 1 billion euros at the end of 2008.

Prada is still 95 percent owned by Miuccia Prada, the label's designer and her husband and Prada chief exec Patrizio Bertelli. At the start of this year we heard a rumor that luxury behemoth Richemont might pick up a piece of Prada. The brand has continued to struggle with its finances for a while. The brand's debt of 450 million euros was extended to 2012. At that point Italian lenders valued Prada at around $3.8 billion. The AFP reported on Monday that an Italian daily, Corriere della Sera said that Prada's magic number for IPO valuation is more than four billion euros (over five billion dollars). Valuations for the company have it "between three and four billion euros" with the company "aiming at exceeding four billion."

Tags: hong kong stock exchange, initial public offering, ipo, milan stock exchange, prada, prada ipo

Prada May Postpone IPO in an Uncertain Market

by Tracy Chait (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel

Earlier in the year, rumors swirled about a potential Prada IPO, divesting the company of a third of its shares and forcing the Prada family to reduce drastically its 95% stake. It's not news that the design house needs cash -- experts have criticized the house for neglecting to stake a claim in burgeoning Asian markets, and the house is in debt after a 1999 shopping spree that included Jil Sander and Helmut Lang. Enterprising CEO Patrizio Bertelli (husband to design brainiac Miuccia Prada) noted after the New Year that Prada might hit the chopping block in Milan by year's end.

And yet, Prada may need to postpone its public offering another time (it avoided an IPO following the 9/11 attacks), as experts estimate its worth at almost $2 billion less than they predicted earlier in the year. Though some hope Prada can withstand a withering economy and ride out 2008, its significant debt may make such a goal as out of reach as one of the house's iconic Fairy Bags.

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Tags: bertelli, fairy bag, FairyBag, helmut lang, HelmutLang, ipo, jil sander, JilSander, miuccia prada, MiucciaPrada, prada, prada fairy bag, PradaFairyBag, salvatore ferragamo, SalvatoreFerragamo