Luxury jeweller Graff plans $1 billion listing
November 15, 2011 – Luxury jeweller Graff Diamonds plans to raise around $1 billion in a Hong Kong listing in 2012, which would enable it to finance expansion in Asia and meet buoyant demand for gemstones in China and India.
Graff, whose stores are located in some of the world’s most exclusive shopping areas including Bond Street in London, is controlled by diamond merchant Laurence Graff.
The planned listing follows a pattern of luxury brands staging IPOs in Hong Kong as a platform for a broader expansion into China, the world’s fastest growing luxury market.
The diamonds business in Asia has been booming as consumers in China and India turn to diamond jewellery even in the face of weak global economic prospects.
Another major jewellery business, Hong Kong’s largest jewellery retailer Chow Tai Fook — controlled by Cheng Yu-teng, one of the city’s richest tycoons — is expected to raise between $3 billion and $4 billion in an IPO early in 2012.
Chow Tai Fook is a household name in Hong Kong and throughout greater China, with 1,400 retail outlets.
