German premium footwear maker Birkenstock’s IPO is priced in U.S.at the middle of its indicated price range at $46 per share, the company said on Tuesday. Birkenstock and its underwriters chose to price the IPO conservatively given the market volatility.
The Birkenstock IPO conservative pricing is despite having enough demand to price the share sale at the top of the indicated range of $44 to $49 per share, according to people familiar with the matter.
Birkenstock IPO price
The Birkenstock IPO raised about $1.48 billion based on 32.3 million shares sold. Birkenstock valuation is at about $9.3 billion on a fully diluted basis.
On Tuesday, Birkenstock set its U.S. IPO price at $46 per share as per anonymous sources’ reports. The sale of 32.3 million shares raised approximately $1.48 billion this puts the Birkenstock valuation of around $9.3 billion on a fully diluted basis amidst market volatility. Despite strong demand that could have allowed for higher Birkenstock IPO pricing, company and its underwriters opted for conservative pricing and refrained from commenting further on the matter.
Slew of listings
Birkenstock is the fourth major company to launch a U.S. IPO in the last four weeks following those of chip designer Arm Holdings, grocery deliver app Instacart (CART.O) and marketing automation platform Klaviyo (KVYO.N).
The slew of recent listings did briefly raise hopes of a broader recovery in equity capital markets after almost an 18-month dry spell including Birkenstock IPO. However, the three newly listed companies gave up most of their share price gains in the days following their IPOs, raising concerns over the near-term outlook for new stock market launches.
While shares of Arm and Klaviyo still trade above their IPO price, Instacart’s stock is now worth less than its IPO value.
All about Birkenstock
Birkenstock was founded in 1774 in the German village of Langen-Bergheim by Johannes Birkenstock and his younger brother Johann Adam Birkenstock, who were both shoemakers. The Birkenstock family ran the business for six generations after its founding.
The brand has been seeking to position itself as a fashionable item worn by models and celebrities. Barbie, played by Margot Robbie, wore a pink pair of Birkenstocks in the final scene of the movie released this summer.
Birkenstock stakeholders
L Catterton, the private equity group backed by French billionaire Bernard Arnault and luxury goods empire Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH.PA), acquired a majority stake in Birkenstock in 2021.
After the Birkenstock IPO, L Catterton will hold an 82.8% stake in the company and control a majority of the combined voting power of its outstanding shares.
Goldman Sachs (GS.N), JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N) and Morgan Stanley (MS.N) are the lead underwriters for the Birkenstock IPO.
Birkenstock’s ticker
The Birkenstock shares will start trading on Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “BIRK”.
