Samsonite International [HKG:1910], a Luxembourg- and Massachusetts-based, Hong Kong-listed travel luggage designer and manufacturer, has hired Morgan Stanley to advise it on a secondary US listing, said three sources familiar with the situation.

The New York Stock Exchange would be a preferred listing venue, said the first source. It remains unclear if Samsonite will add banks to help arrange the deal, said the second source.

The luggage and travel accessories maker announced on 22 March that it plans to pursue a secondary listing, though deliberations remain preliminary.

Samsonite was among the foreign luxury and leisure brands to have flocked to Hong Kong for initial public offerings around 2011, lured by rapid growth in China’s economy and private consumption back then. But recent years of slowdown in the world’s second largest economy — with few if any signs of a turnaround soon — coupled with Hong Kong’s sagging stock market have encouraged them to contemplate options elsewhere.

The second source added Samsonite is also exploring other strategic options, without providing any specifics.

Bloomberg reported on 16 April that the company has drawn interest from several PE firms for a possible privatization but talks have stopped due to mismatched valuation expectations. The company has since opted to proceed with a dual-listing.

Samsonite reported an adjusted net income of USD 392.4m for 2023, up 32.5% YoY, or 82% higher than that of 2019 (the year before COVID). Its net sales increased 30% YoY to USD 3.68bn, or up 11.5% from that in 2019.

Asia and North America accounted for the majority of the net sales, with the former up 55.8% YoY while the latter growing 13.4%.

The strong growth was driven by continued recovery and growth in leisure and business travel globally and China’s lifting of travel restrictions and social distancing measures, according to its press release.

With a heritage dating back to 1910, Samsonite provides luggage, business and computer bags, outdoor and casual bags and travel accessories throughout the world, primarily under the Samsonite® , Tumi® , American Tourister® , Gregory®, High Sierra® , Lipault® and Hartmann® brand names as well as other owned and licensed brands.

The company is bullish about 2024 business, as global travel and tourism growth is expected to remain healthy while China continues to recover strongly, according to its 2023 annual results presentation.

Samsonite trades at 12.1x earnings, giving it an HKD 39.7bn (USD 5.49bn) market cap. The stock has more than doubled since 2011’s listing. The Hang Seng Index has retreated 30.7% from 2011 to now.

This news service reported on 26 March that Italian high-fashion brand Prada [HKG:1913] is exploring a triple listing that would involve a secondary listing in Milan and a third listing in New York. UniCredit is being considered to help assist with the Milan listing, while Goldman Sachs for the New York listing, expected to happen in the second half of this year.

Prada was reported in January to have received a private bid from a UK private equity fund linked to the Wertheimer family, which controls the luxury group Chanel. However, a February report from another Italian media said that Prada is not up for sale, citing Miuccia Prada’s son Lorenzo Bertelli.

Prada is valued at HKD 148.2bn, trading at 25.6x earnings. The stock has advanced nearly 70% since 2011’s IPO. In comparison, French luxury giant LVMH [EPA:MC] trades around 27x earnings in Paris.

On 9 April, it was reported that Reinold Geiger, a controlling shareholder of L’Occitane International [HKG:0973], and PE firm Blackstone were close to reaching a deal to privatize the Luxembourg-based beauty and well-being products maker, valued at HKD 43.5bn in Hong Kong.

The company has been in a share trading halt since, pending announcement pursuant to the HK code on Takeovers and Mergers, as announced.

Samsonite International and Morgan Stanley did not respond to requests for comments.