Inditex, Zara’s parent company, went public in 2001. Its initial public offering took place on the Bolsa de Madrid, Spain’s principal stock exchange, turning the privately controlled fashion group into a publicly traded company.
The IPO sold 26 percent of Inditex to public investors and valued the company at about €9 billion. The event came after years of expansion beyond Spain and helped provide capital and visibility for the group’s continued international growth.
Inditex had been created in 1985 as a holding company for Zara and related manufacturing operations. By the time of the flotation, the group had broadened its portfolio with brands such as Pull&Bear, Massimo Dutti and Bershka, while Zara remained its best-known label.
The year is sometimes confused with later milestones, including Zara’s expansion into additional countries or the launch of Zara Home in 2003. Those events did not mark Inditex’s stock-market debut; the IPO year was 2001.