IPO or not to IPO?

Wall Street Journal :
MILAN -- Salvatore Ferragamo SpA and Prada SpA, two of the world's biggest fashion names, are sticking to plans for stock-market listings in Milan next year despite signs the luxury-goods sector is heading for turbulent times.
For each, the planned listing of a minority of its shares is perhaps the best shot for the family owners to raise the cash necessary to fund expansion around the world without sacrificing control. But the desire to go public against the increasingly difficult market backdrop shows how critical the need for financing has become for Europe's family-owned fashion labels.
By Stacy Meichtry and Christina Passariello.

Prada has postponed it's IPO several times (especially in september 2001), and rumours have been running wild for years. The Italian company may need the cash to expand aggressively into China, Brazil, and India, as well as to increase its presence in the United States (especially with it's brand MIU MIU) and in Japan. Based on its sale of 5% of the company to Intesa Sanpaolo last year, the company is worth at least $2.7 billion.