Birkenstock on the New York Stock Exchange. The debut turned out to be a flop
The German sandals and clogs manufacturer Birkenstock debuted on the stock exchange in New York. However, the valuation of its shares on the opening day was below the issuance price, which is quite a rare case. Therefore, commentators rated the debut of the German giant as a flop.
9:46 AM EDT, October 12, 2023
The issue is reported by dw.com ("Deutsche Welle") which writes that Birkenstock made its debut on the New York trading floor on Wednesday. Its shares were initially priced at 41 dollars in the first evaluation. That's over 10% below the issue price.
Debut flop
The issuance price was 46 dollars and was considered cautious. However, it corresponded to a total company valuation of approximately 8.6 billion dollars (about 8.1 billion euros at the current rate) - the company announced in a statement. Earlier, it had set the share price range at 44 to 49 dollars.
This is rather an unusual situation for the stock price to fall below the issue price, instead of rising. It means that the company and shareholders have mispriced the interest in assets - reported by dw.com via DPA agency.
According to earlier estimates, Birkenstock could have raised up to $1.48 billion from the issuance of 31.2 million shares. L Catterton, the main owner (associated with the LVMH group and its boss, billionaire Bernard Arnault), will retain control of the company after its stock market debut.
What is Birkenstock?
The company has been in business since 1774, founded by a cobbler named Johannes Birkenstock. In recent years, eco-friendly sandals have been regaining their fashion brilliance, partly due to collaborations with high-end brands like Dior and Manolo Blahnik. In 2023, movie enthusiasts were able to see them in the film "Barbie".
