Italian Luxury Group Zegna Makes Wall Street Debut
Italian menswear brand, Ermenegildo Zegna, made its New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) debut on Monday, following the completion of its merger with a U.S. blank check firm in a deal with an enterprise value of $3.1 billion.
As of yesterday evening, the company’s shares were trading at $10.92, nearly 6.6% higher than its opening price of $10.24.
The company’s CEO, Gildo Zegna, noted that the NYSE debut will help the company accelerate its transition toward “comfort clothing” while remaining focussed on internal growth and developing expansion routes that “fit its DNA.”
“Products that last and perform, and we’re both of those — it’s just a matter of accelerating … this project will make us raise our voice and raise our bar.”
“The reason we’re here is that we need scale,” Zegna said.
“But the new Zegna is a big start-up… we need to concentrate our resources, our energies on it … no distractions. We have enough on our plate, but we’ll keep an open mind.”
As the company looks to grow amidst ongoing supply chain uncertainties, it is considering acquiring suppliers, so it has better control over its business.
“If you don’t control the supply chain, you go nowhere …raw materials are going to be scarcer and scarcer and more expensive,” Zegna added.
The company was founded in 1910 as a textile brand but has since then grown to become a leader in luxury menswear. Today, Zegna is managed by the family’s third generation, which reaped gross profits of $761 million from the New York listing. The family maintains a 66% stake in the company that came out of Zegna’s merger with blank check firm Investindustrial Acquisition Corp.
Originally published at https://retailbum.com on December 21, 2021.
