Birkenstock Sets IPO Shares at $44 to $49

Birkenstock, the comfort footwear company, is set to sell more than 32 million shares to the public for $44 to $49 apiece later this month, according to a securities filing on Monday.

Birkenstock will sell more than 10.7 million shares in an initial public offering, while the company's majority owner, L. Catterton, a private equity firm based in Greenwich, Connecticut, will offer an additional 21.5 million shares at the same price.

That means the German footwear maker could raise nearly $1.6 billion at the top of its pricing range. Birkenstock could set its IPO price on Oct. 10 and begin trading on Oct. 11, sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg on Monday.

The company would have a market capitalization of $10.1 billion if all shares, including an "overallotment," are sold at the top price, Bloomberg said. The stock will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "BIRK."

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund and Durable Capital Partners of Bethesda, Maryland, have expressed interest in buying as much as $300 million of the stock collectively, according to the filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

"We have retained the original spirit of our forefathers who laid the foundation of a global business that is more relevant than ever before," Birkenstock CEO Oliver Reichert said in a letter on Sept. 12. "Today, we are crowning this development with an IPO — a logical step that began with the stepping back of the family from the operational business."

Birkenstock, which was founded in 1774, was acquired by L. Catterton in 2021 for $4.85 billion.

Its IPO is coming amid a difficult environment. Shares in Instacart and Arm Holdings, which both had highly anticipated offerings last month, haven't seen large pops. Instacart fell nearly 10% on Monday to close at $26.96, below its IPO price of $30. Arm is up just 2.5% to $52.26 from $51.