A model displays a creation of Salvatore Ferragamo Fall-Winter 2011-2012 Italian fashion and luxury goods firm Salvatore Ferragamo is planning to list up to 25 % of its capital on the Milan stock exchange \"before the summer\", an informed source told AFP on Wednesday. The source said that Ferragamo would begin meetings with investors \"soon\" for the sale, following its announcement in April that it would conduct an initial public offering (IPO).
Contacted by AFP, Ferragamo declined to comment on the report.
According to analysts forecasts cited by Dow Jones Newswires, Salvatore Ferragamo could be valued at 1.6 billion euros ($2.4 billion).
The company was set up in 1927 by Salvatore Ferragamo, a Florentine shoemaker who came back to Italy after living in the United States where he became famous for designing shoes for Hollywood stars.
Ferragamo now also makes clothes, leather goods and eyewear.
It is currently controlled by the Ferragamo family, which sold eight percent of the company\'s capital to Hong Kong businessman Peter Woo.
The group has 2,800 employees and 578 shops around the world.
Another Italian family-owned group, Prada, announced in January that it would list on the Hong Kong stock exchange rather than in Milan a sign of the importance of the Asian luxury goods market.