Tod’s CEO says he has no plans to sell ‘family business’ By Reuters

By Elisa Anzolin

MILAN (Reuters) -The founder of Italian luxury shoemaker Tod’s said on Friday he had no plans to sell the company after taking it private via a deal with private equity firm L Catterton.

The private equity group backed by France’s LVMH offered this month to buy 36% of Tod’s and delist it, in agreement with the Della Valle family which created the company.

“We don’t have to sell anything. We have a family business with young people who want to do this job. What could be better than that?” Tod’s CEO and Chairman Diego Della Valle said on the sidelines of the brand’s fashion show in Milan.

Diego Della Valle, who has two sons, currently holds 64.5% of the group together with his brother Andrea.

Under the deal, Diego Della Valle will tender his personal 10.45% stake to L Catterton, while retaining 54% together with his brother. LVMH will keep its current 10% stake.

The move followed a failed attempt by the Della Valles to take the company private in 2022.

Under a shareholder agreement among L Catterton, the Della Valle family and LVMH published on the Tod’s website, the parties settled on a lock-up period of four years starting from the delisting date.

At the end of this, if one of the shareholders wishes to sell its shares to a third party, it will have to notify the others and give them the right to submit a first offer.

According to the same document, if a shareholder wishes to sell its stake to a competitor, the Della Valle family will have the right to refuse permission.

The Della Valle family will also have the right to propose the CEO, and Diego Della Valle, as chairman, will have the final say on strategy.

On Friday Tod’s new creative director Matteo Tamburini presented his first collection for the brand, in a show entitled “Tod’s in motion”.

The models walked the runway in a tram depot in Milan, in a collection characterised, according to the show notes, by the duality of urban life and leisure.