German sandal maker Birkenstock, whose image has been revolutionized in recent years as a fashion brand, filed on Tuesday its application for an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, according to a document published on the website of the American regulator SEK.
The prospectus does not specify a date for the listing of the securities of the company controlled by the investment company L Catterton, with which the global leader in the luxury segment LVMH and its boss Bernard Arnault are associated.
According to the Wall Street Journal, shareholders expect a valuation of more than seven billion dollars for the company, whose headquarters are in Linz on the Rhine (southwest of Germany), not far from Bonn.
The Birkenstock filing is a new example of the resumption of initial public offerings, which are scheduled to begin this week with the unveiling of semiconductor designer Arm, also in New York.
The document, filed Tuesday, is a preliminary filing that does not mention how many shares the group plans to offer to investors.
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It shows that Birkenstock generated sales of 1.24 billion euros (then $1.22 billion) and a net profit of 187 million euros (US$183 million) in its most recent fiscal year, which ended at the end of September 2022.
In the six months from October 2022 to March 2023, sales reached 644 million euros, an increase of 18%. Within eight years, Birkenstock has more than quadrupled its sales.
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Founded in 1774 by shoemaker Johann Adam Birkenstock, the company began marketing soles before launching sandals in 1963.
German sandals were worn in a more casual clothing style by the Western youth emancipation movement in the 60s and 70s.
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But then the brand became obsolete before being reborn in recent years with the help of an aggressive marketing strategy, exemplified recently by the appearance of the famous sandals on Barbie’s feet in the hit film about the doll of the same name.
Reinvented as a fashion accessory, Birkenstock has even earned a place in the world of luxury through collaborations with Dior, Valentino, Céline and Givenchy.
A strategy anchored in 2021 by the acquisition of the majority shares of the company by US-based L. Catterton, valuing Birkenstock at around 4 billion euros, according to analysts.
The company employs around 6,200 people, according to the document published on Tuesday.
Birkenstock claims to produce its shoes in Germany. One of the most important locations is in Görlitz in the east of the country, not far from the Polish border. A new factory is scheduled to open in northern Germany by the end of the year.