Birkenstock filed for an initial public offering Tuesday, though it’s unclear when the German footwear company, which is owned by Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy-backed private equity firm L Catterton, will reveal its share price or terms of the share sale.
Sandals of the German sandals and shoes maker Birkenstock are pictured in a store window at the company’s store in Berlin on February 26, 2021. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP) (Photo by JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP via Getty Images)
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Key Takeaways
- The company will list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BIRK, according to the filing.
- The IPO could be valued at more than $8 billion, according to Bloomberg, with Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Staley listed as joint underwriters.
- Birkenstock reported about $1.3 billion in revenue in 2022 and experienced an 18% revenue growth from 2018 to 2022.
Key Background
Birkenstock was founded in 1774 and saw its family heirs step down from the company about 10 years ago. L Catterton bought a majority stake in Birkenstock in 2021—a deal that valued the company at about $4.3 billion. L Catterton is backed by billionaire Bernard Arnault’s LVMH, which owns 75 fashion and cosmetics brands and was the first European company to hit a $500 billion valuation.
Forbes Valuation
We estimate Arnault’s net worth at $195.2 billion, making him the second-wealthiest person in the world behind Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
Tangent
Birkenstock said in the filing that the global footwear market is “large and fragmented,” citing a Euromonitor estimate that the sector was expected to generate about $365 billion in retail sales last year.
This article was first published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.
