Birkenstock files for U.S. IPO as listings recovery gains pace

FILE PHOTO: A Birkenstock footwear store is pictured in Berlin, Germany, January 21, 2021. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch/File Photo

German premium footwear brand Birkenstock on Tuesday filed for an initial public offering in the United States, underscoring a pickup in the country’s equity markets and becoming the second big European company to seek a foreign listing this month.

Its filing with the U.S. securities regulator did not disclose the financial details of the offering, but revealed that net revenue for the six months ended March 31 rose 19 percent to 644.17 million euros ($692.87 million) and profit fell 45.3 percent to 40.21 million euros.

The German sandal maker’s IPO ambitions come hot on the heels of filings by British chipmaker Arm, data automation provider Klaviyo and grocery delivery app Instacart, as equity markets in the U.S. thaw after a murky economic outlook led to a slow start to the year.

Birkenstock’s filing also follows the marketing blitz around blockbuster movie “Barbie”, in which star Margot Robbie was seen donning a pair of pink Birkenstocks, boosting the popularity of the comfort-focused footwear among fashion aficionados.

SoftBank Group-owned Arm and now Birkenstock’s decision to list outside Europe comes as IPO markets in the region wade through a lackluster year, with volumes far below 2021’s record levels. In contrast, U.S. listings have fetched nearly double the amount secured in 2022, according to data from Dealogic.

In July, Birkenstock majority owner L Catterton’s beauty firm Oddity Tech rose 40 percent on its Nasdaq debut. L Catterton is a private equity firm backed by LVMH.

Birkenstock, a family-owned business that traces its roots back to 1774, said it intends to list its shares under the “BIRK” ticker on the New York Stock Exchange.

Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley are the lead underwriters for the IPO.

Entities affiliated with L Catterton will control a majority of the combined voting power of the shares after the offering, it said.

($1 = 0.9297 euros)