Jimmy Choo steps into the city

Super-expensive shoe-maker Jimmy Choo plans to join the London Stock Exchange next month.

At least twenty five percent of the up-market firm will be offered to investors.

Depending on the price it could value the entire company at nearly 900 million euros

Jimmy Choo will market itself as a chance to get in on the upper end of the shoe market, a fast growing part of the luxury industry.

But its flotation comes at a challenging moment, with slowing growth in the industry overall and investor worries about geopolitical issues affecting future sales and expansion plans.

Jimmy Choo had 120 directly operated stores as of the end of June and plans to open 10-15 shops a year until 2016. Around five of these will be in China where it seeks to ultimately increase its number of stores to 30 from 11 today.

Its shoes, costing 300-600 pounds (382-764 euros), have featured in TV shows and films including ‘Sex and the City’ and ‘The Devil Wears Prada’.

with Reuters