DELLA VALLE: TOD’S FACE SEVERAL DIFFICULT, BUT DOESN’T GIVE UP

Della Valle, president, CEO, general manager and Tod’s majority shareholder ventured into a very risky mission and didn't succeed as he expected to. His intention was to remove the Italian footwear market from the stock market.

In 2000, Della Valle decided to bring Tod’s on the stock market offering to the smaller shareholders and investors 25% of the capital stock. This has helped the family hold the majority of the control in managing the business. However, in August 2022 he decided to take a step backwards: Della Valle, through the DeVa Finance company, together with Lvmh (the biggest multinational group of luxury brands) proposed a takeover bid to acquire Tod’s. The minimum required by the buyer was to achieve 90% of the capital stock.

The reality, however, didn’t satisfy as much: the minimum of 90% of the capital stock was met nonetheless each share was sold at 40 euros. Furthermore,  Della Valle tried to encourage shareholders by offering a 20% bonus compared to share prices once the takeover bid had been announced. All of this wasn’t sufficient to persuade shareholders, who only joined for 48.95% of the capital stock, together with 63.6% of the shares held by the Della Valle family and 10% of Lvmh. In total, the shares held represented 86.95% of the capital stock, which meant Della Valle had failed in his intentions.

However, Della Valle isn't ready to give up yet: he stated that they are working to assure that in time they will achieve their mission, thanks to the group structure, the client’s trust, the desire for the brand, and the competencies of the managers and craftsman.