Birkenstock Shoots for $9.2 Billion Valuation in IPO
Birkenstock is targeting a valuation of as much as $9.2 billion in an initial public offering this month.
The L Catterton-backed sandal-maker on Monday said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it would sell close to 32.26 million shares priced between $44 and $49 per ordinary share to raise about $1.58 billion. At the low end, the valuation would hover around $8.3 billion, and at the high end about $9.2 billion, according to the numbers revealed in the filing.
Birkenstock initially filed to go public in September. In a prospectus document filed with the SEC, Birkenstock noted that it posted 187 million euros in net earnings and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of 434.6 million euros for the year ended Sept. 30. Sales tallied 1.2 billion euros. In the first half of this year, adjusted EBITDA tallied 224.4 million euros on sales of 644.2 million euros.
According to the filing, LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault’s family holding company Financière Agache is interested in buying up to $325 million in shares. Alexandre Arnault, Bernard’ son, will join Birkenstock’s board of directors after the offering.
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While Birkenstock has a history in the comfort market — and is best known for its footbed — the brand recently saw an uptick in interest after it played a central role in the box office smash hit, “Barbie”. In the film, Kate McKinnon’s “Weird Barbie” character explains to Margot Robbie’s Barbie she must choose between Barbieland-appropriate sparkly high-heeled pumps and a pair of Birkenstock sandals. The latter are the footwear chosen to represent the real world, where Barbie must venture to remedy her existential crisis — and her suddenly flattened feet.
This movie moment sparked a 110% increase on searches for Birkenstock Arizonas following its release, according to Lyst.
In its prospectus document, Birkenstock highlighted tailwinds, recent financial figures and potential risk factors that could create problems once the stock is registered. Modern feminism was among these tailwinds projected to drive growth for the brand as a public company. The brand said that the feminist movement spurred demand for Birkenstock as early as the 1990s, when women took to the sandals to “free themselves from long-standing fashion norms that required wearing painful high heels and other constricting footwear.”
