Reuters: Hot Stocks: RPT-UPDATE 1-Italy's Moleskine shares rise on market debut

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RPT-UPDATE 1-Italy's Moleskine shares rise on market debut Apr 3rd 2013, 08:17 Wed Apr 3, 2013 4:17am EDT (Repeats to additional subscribers. No change to text) By Antonella Ciancio MILAN, April 3 (Reuters) - Shares in upmarket notebook maker Moleskine rose on their market debut in Milan on Wednesday, defying broad stock market weakness in the first major stock listing in crisis-hit Italy this year. The maker of slick, black notebooks based on originals used by Ernest Hemingway and Bruce Chatwin is the first new company to join the main Milan stock market since cashmere brand Brunello Cucinelli's listing almost a year ago. Shares in Moleskine were up 2 percent at 2.34 euros a share at 0735 GMT from the 2.30 euros the company had set for its 488 million euro ($626.5 million) initial public offering. The stock was outperforming a 0.5 percent fall in Italy's broad share index, underscoring the appeal that Italian luxury brands retain among investors even though the country is struggling with a deep recession and is currently in a political limbo after inconclusive general elections. "I hear the concerns that Italy doesn't have a government," said Raffaele Jerusalmi, CEO of Italian stock exchange Borsa Italiana. "Therefore, it is even more important to have a market flotation at this moment of uncertainty." Moleskine offered 106.3 million shares, including 12 million new ones, meaning just over 50 percent of the company's shares are now traded on the market. Private equity funds Syntegra Capital and Index Ventures, alongside founder Francesco Franceschi and management, will pocket most of the 244 million euros generated by the sale. Demand for the shares has come from investors in Italy, Europe, Britain, the United States and Asia, the company has said. ($1 = 0.7789 euros) (Reporting by Antonella Ciancio; Writing by Lisa Jucca; Editing by Mark Potter) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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