In the first half of the 2022/23 financial year, Birkenstock increased its sales by 19 percent to 646 million euros, while the operating result (adjusted EBITDA) increased by 11 percent to 225 million euros.
(Photo: dpa)
Frankfurt According to financial circles, the Birkenstock company, known for its health sandals, has started preparations for an IPO in the USA. Owner L Catterton, a Franco-American private equity firm, has hired investment banks to organize the deal, according to people familiar with the transaction. These include JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs. The company could be valued at around six billion dollars.
If the capital markets allow it, the stock market debut could take place after the summer break or in the coming year. L Catterton, Birkenstock and the banks declined to comment or were initially unavailable.
In 2021, L Catteron and the family investment company of billionaire Bernard Arnault acquired a majority stake in Birkenstock. The deal valued the company at $4.9 billion. The brothers Christian and Alex Birkenstock remained involved in the company. After L Catterton got on board, Birkenstock launched a sales offensive – primarily in the direction of the USA and Asia.
In the first half of the 2022/23 financial year, Birkenstock increased its sales by 19 percent to 646 million euros, while the operating result (adjusted EBITDA) increased by 11 percent to 225 million euros.
In February, Birkenstock appointed Erik Massmann as the new chief financial officer, who now has the task of promoting Birkenstock to potential investors as a good investment.
Birkenstock: Investments of 100 million euros
When L Catterton joined the almost 250-year-old company from Linz am Rhein, there was talk of planned investments of 100 million euros, which should flow into the modernization of the Birkenstock factory in Görlitz in East Saxony, where the cork Latex sandals are made.
Last summer, the company announced a new plant in Pasewalk, in which a total of 120 million euros are to be invested – the largest single investment in the company’s history. Production is scheduled to start in the third quarter. In the medium term, 1,000 people are expected to work there. Birkenstock currently employs 5,500 people worldwide.
The Birkenstock brand has existed since 1774. The company has 16 locations, four of which are for production, all in Germany. In addition to sandals and shoes, Birkenstock has also been producing beds and cosmetic products for four years and has been calling itself a “global lifestyle brand” ever since.
In June of this year, the company celebrated the 150th anniversary of the birth of Konrad Birkenstock, who at the beginning of the 20th century had developed an anatomically shaped footbed, which he had patented back then as “health footwear”.
The company was owned by the sixth generation of the brothers Alexander and Christian Birkenstock before the holding company L Catterton and the family holding company of LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault, Financière Agache, took over the majority. The Bloomberg news agency had previously reported on the IPO preparations.
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