The owners of celebrity shoemaker, Jimmy Choo, are reportedly putting a sale price tag of up to £500 million ($869 million) on the firm.
The firm has been consulting investment banks over options for the business and could appoint an adviser to carry out a strategic review by the end of the UK summer.
Jimmy Choo`s owners include President and former It-girl Tamara Mellon, who founded the business in 1996 and still owns almost one-fifth of the firm. Since the Malaysian-born cobbler went into business with Mellon, Jimmy Choo shoes have been made famous by celebrity fans, including the actors from the hit TV show Sex and the City and singer Beyonce Knowles.
The brand has 100 shops in 32 countries and has branched into accessories such as handbags and eyewear. The business prospered despite the global recession.
If the sale goes ahead, it would mark yet another change of ownership for the business during its brief life. In 2001 the firm was bought by private equity firm Phoenix, which sold it to firm Lion Capital three years later. In early 2007, Mellon and the rest of the management team bought it from Lion with the backing of TowerBrook Capital Partners in a deal that valued the business at £185 million.
