Slow start for the retail placement of Prada's 2,6 billion dollar IPO on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Potential investors are held back by the prospect of paying Italy's capital gains tax and by claims from Phillip Securities, a broker in the China region, that the shares are overvalued by 41%.
Above all, the 12,5% tax would prompt many investors to withdraw purchase orders, as "unlike institutional clients, our retail clients hold the shares for a much shorter period," a broker told the Reuters.
These "retail" investors are generally very active in Hong Kong IPOs and usually about 10% of the shares offered on the market are reserved for them. The Italian fashion house was criticized by the broker Phillip Securities, who assigned it a target price of 28,5 Hong Kong dollars for the next 12 months, against the range between 36,5 and 48 dollars assigned by Prada. The broker therefore advised investors not to subscribe to the offer (which was opened on Monday and will be priced on Friday).
