“Inventor of the sole”: Birkenstock is cautious about the issue price of shares

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Traditional sandal maker Birkenstock is holding its share prices steady for its New York IPO. Birkenstock set its share price at $46, in the middle of its $44 to $49 range. The share sale will bring in just under $1.5 billion (about 1.3 billion Swiss francs). About two-thirds of this goes to LVMH’s principal owner, L Catterton, which is linked to luxury group LVMH and is owned by billionaire mogul Bernard Arnault.

Birkenstock, headquartered in Linz am Rhein in Rhineland-Palatinate, was valued at approximately $8.6 billion (approximately 7.8 billion francs) at its stock market debut. L Catterton will retain control of Birkenstock after the IPO. The shares will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday under the symbol “BIRK.” Birkenstock wants to use its share of the proceeds from the IPO to reduce debt.

With the plans, Birkenstock is jumping on a wave of activity after more than a year of stagnation in the U.S. stock market. In the past few weeks, chip designer Arm and delivery service Instacart, among others, have gone public. They set the issue price at the upper end of the price range. However, shares were unable to maintain their initial price gains. Arm stock has recently been trading well below its current highs, and its Instacart price has fallen below its issue price.

Birkenstock’s origins date back to 1774, according to the company. Nearly 250 years ago, shoemaker Johannes Birkenstock laid the foundations of the “shoemaking dynasty.” The company describes itself as the “inventor of the footbed.” Sandals have long since broken away from the old eco-slippers image; In recent years, they have increasingly become a fashion accessory, thanks to collaborations with high-end brands such as Dior and Manolo Blahnik.

In the first half of this fiscal year, which ended at the end of March, Birkenstock increased its sales by 18.7 percent to around 644.2 million euros. As a result, a profit of 40.2 million euros remained on the books, after approximately 73.5 million euros the previous year. The main reason for the decline was unfavorable exchange rates. Birkenstock closed the last fiscal year with sales of 1.24 billion euros and profits of 187 million euros. (SDA)

Source :Blick