VIENNA (Reuters) - Swiss sports shoe maker On, partly owned by tennis champion Roger Federer, is in the early stages of preparing for a stock exchange listing in summer or autumn of next year, newspaper NZZ am Sonntag reported.
The Zurich-based company, founded 10 years ago, says it has special sole technology that is soft on impact and firm on the rebound, and it has been growing fast. It announced in November that Federer was a "co-owner". He has also helped advertise the brand and it has named a limited-edition sneaker after him.
On values itself at almost 2 billion francs ($2.1 billion), NZZ said, based on companies registry data showing that when the firm carried out a capital increase in February its share price was 8,884 francs and roughly 217,000 are in issue.
The company has made the first preparations for an IPO and they are still "at an early stage", NZZ said, citing several independent but anonymous sources.
On was not immediately available for comment. NZZ said the company and Federer declined to comment for its article.