Italian luxury goods company Prada is set to file a listing application on Friday for a Hong Kong IPO that could be worth almost $2 billion, sources with direct knowledge of the plans said.

The Milan-based company, known for its colorful Miu Miu dresses and Prada handbags, is set to file the so-called A1 listing application form with the Hong Kong stock exchange ahead of a planned listing at the end of June, the sources said.

Prada was not immediately available for comment.

The IPO, the first for an Italian company in Hong Kong, would come on the heels of other Hong Kong listings by overseas companies such as Russian aluminium maker UC RUSAL and French skincare products retailer L'Occitane, which have looked to raise funds from deep-pocketed Asian investors and benefit from higher valuations.

The group could raise at least €1.2 billion and seek a valuation of at least 12 times projected 2011 core earnings, in line with the luxury sector, which is on 12.5 times.

The fashion house run by Patrizio Bertelli and designer Miuccia Prada has about a third of its 326 directly operated stores in the Asia Pacific region, its fastest-growing market.

Prada has appointed Italian banks UniCredit SpA and Intesa Sanpaolo, both sitting on the company's board, along with Goldman Sachs and Credit Agricole's CLSA brokerage as joint bookrunners and global coordinators of the IPO.

Reuters