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PARIS, France — Kering shares rose to record highs on Friday after the French luxury goods group announced plans to spin off German sports brand Puma to its shareholders, in order to focus squarely on its more upmarket brands.
Kering shares were up 0.9 percent at 412.40 euros in early session trading, with the stock at one point touching a record intraday high of 415 euros. Kering also outperformed a 0.1 percent decline in the STOXX Europe 600 Personal & Household Goods index, which houses many luxury goods stocks.
However, Puma shares slumped 14 percent, with some traders mentioning broker downgrades to the stock following the deal.
Kering said on Thursday that it planned to distribute 70 percent of Puma shares to its investors, leaving it with only a 16 percent stake, confirming an exclusive Reuters report.
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"We welcome this development, which if approved by shareholders, will increase Puma's free-float making it investable again for the first time in around 10 years. At the same time, Kering will be now able to focus purely on its luxury goods business, where we continue to see value," wrote analysts at brokerage Berenberg.
By Sudip Kar-Gupta; editor: Sarah White.
