The sandal manufacturer goes public.
(Photo: Bloomberg)
The German sandal manufacturer Birkenstock is aiming for the US stock market. This emerges from a filing by the company with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday. The move was expected. Handelsblatt had previously reported that the debut on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) was planned for the second week of October. Ten to 15 percent of the shares are expected to be sold. The overall valuation is aimed at at least eight billion dollars.
Since Birkenstock is presented to investors as a manufacturer of lifestyle and luxury products, a valuation of ten to 11.5 billion dollars is also conceivable. The plan is to keep the papers under the stock symbol “BIRK.”
Birkenstock’s roots go back to 1774. The company is family-owned by the sixth generation. Most products are manufactured in Germany in factories in Rhineland-Palatinate, North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse and Saxony. The Birkenstock founding family sold the majority of the company to the private equity firm L Catterton in 2021. Since then, around 65 percent has been held by the financial investor. Bernard Arnault, the founder of the luxury group LVMH, holds around 20 percent through his Agache vehicle.
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