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* Jimmy Choo aims to join London stock market next month
* Owners JAB to sell at least 25 percent of company
* Jimmy Choo's No.1 market by sales is US, followed by Japan (Adds details, background)
By Astrid Wendlandt and Freya Berry
PARIS/LONDON, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Jimmy Choo set out planson Tuesday to join the London Stock Exchange next month in adeal that could value the upmarket shoe maker at more than 700million pounds ($1.2 billion), seeking to woo investors with theprospect of expansion in Asia.
Its owner JAB Luxury, the investment arm of the billionaireGerman Reimann family, plans to sell at least 25 percent of thecompany in the listing.
Jimmy Choo will market itself as a chance to gain exposureto the upper end of the shoe market, one of the fastest growingareas in the luxury goods industry.
Its flotation, however, comes at a challenging moment, withslowing growth in the industry overall and investor worriesabout conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East which couldaffect future sales and expansion plans.
The brand, famous for its rock chic style and perilouslyhigh heels, is seeking to grow its business by opening newstores in Asia and elsewhere, although no new funds will beraised for the company itself in the share sale.
Its shoes, costing 300-600 pounds, have featured in TV showsand films including "Sex and the City" and "The Devil WearsPrada". Exposure in the Korean show "Love from the Star" boostedthe sales of an anthracite lamé glitter pointy toes pump modelcalled Abel.
Founded in the 1990s by Malaysian bespoke shoe maker JimmyChoo, the company has gone through the hands of several privateequity firms before being acquired for more than 500 millionpounds in 2011 by JAB.
Jimmy Choo had 120 directly operated stores as of the end ofJune and plans to open 10-15 shops a year until 2016. Aroundfive of these will be in China where it seeks to ultimatelyincrease its number of stores to 30 from 11 today.
Comparatively, rival luxury shoe maker Christian Louboutin,famous for its carmine red soles, has 92 boutiques worldwide ofwhich 13 are in mainland China.
"There are opportunities for specialist shoe brands to comeinto the Chinese market," Jimmy Choo Chief Executive PierreDenis told reporters on Tuesday.
"We feel very strongly that there is no reason why one daythe Chinese client will not want to have shoes coming from aspecialist company."
NEW STORES
Analysts expect Jimmy Choo will aim to be priced in linewith sector peer Salvatore Ferragamo of Italy which iscurrently trading on about 12 times next year's core earningsand has a market valuation of 3.75 billion euros.
The luxury goods industry is trading on average on about 10times next year's core profits.
Jimmy Choo made adjusted core profits (EBITDA) of 46.9million pounds on revenue of 281.5 million pounds in 2013. Inthe first half of this year, revenue reached 150.2 millionpounds with EBITDA of 27.6 million pounds.
The company said overall sales growth in the first half was9.4 percent, with a like-for-like increase of 2.2 percent whichwas impacted by store renovations and roll-out of a new format.
Jimmy Choo last week opened its biggest store ever in NewBond Street in London designed by the David Collins studio afteropening its first flagship in Beverly Hills in May.
Denis said the brand's biggest market was the United States,followed by Japan, the country where it had the biggest presencein Asia and where sales rose by more than 20 percent in the pasttwo years.
European IPO issuance levels have quadrupled so far thisyear from 2013, with 177 companies raising $55.5 billion. Londonhas proved a particularly attractive destination, accounting for$19.8 billion, or just over a third of issuance, according toThomson Reuters data.
BoA Merrill Lynch is leading the deal. HSBC is acting as joint bookrunner and BHF-BANK acting asco-lead manager. ($1 = 0.6108 British Pounds) (editing by David Clarke/Keith Weir)
