Prada starts marketing for Hong Kong IPO

Italian fashion icon Prada started investor education yesterday for a Hong Kong initial public offering that is expected to raise about $2.5 billion. The deal comes hot on the heels of the launch of investor education for Samsonite’s upcoming $1 billion to $1.5 billion IPO last Thursday and suggests there will be a battle for consumer retail-focused investors during the next few weeks.

According to the current timetable, the two deals won’t actually go completely head to head as Samsonite is planning to launch its institutional roadshow a week ahead of Prada, but both deals will be marketing at the same time, which means investors interested in both will have...