Private equity firm bid sends Tod’s shares soaring

Shares in Tod’s, the brand renowned for its Gommino loafers, rose 17.4% on Monday. This is thanks to the founding Della Valle family accepting a bid made by private equity firm L Catterton to acquire 36% of the luxury footwear label and take it private.

Shares rose to £36.3 (€42.7) each by 08:35 GMT, just below the £36.6 (€43) per share offered by the investment firm backed by France’s LVMH, which values Tod’s at just over £1.2 billion (€1.4 billion).

If the sale is successful, CEO and Founder Diego Della Valle will release his 10.45% stake in Tod’s, while retaining another 54%  with his brother Andrea. LVMH will keep its 10% stake and L Catterton will own the remainder of Tod’s.

L Catterton is one of the world's largest consumer-focus private equity houses and has made 250 investments over the past 30 years in brands including Birkenstock and Seafolly in fashion and Bliss in beauty.

It was created in 2016 when Catterton and LVMH, the luxury conglomerate, and Groupe Arnault, the family holding company of Bernard Arnault of LVMH, partnered to create L Catterton.

The 1920-founded company acquired Roger Vivier in the mid-1990s. The company also owns the luxury footwear label Hogan and the fashion label Fay.

Back in 2022, the Della Valle family, who own 64.5% of Tod's, attempted to take the company private but subsequently failed. They offered £34 (€40) a share to buy out other investors and strive to revive the group’s fortunes by managing its diverse brands separately. That bid failed and the family refrained from taking the company private.

Citi analysts said shareholders may discourage against the sale as the bid price does not reflect the ongoing turnaround of the Tod’s brand and undervalues Roger Vivier.