By
Bloomberg
Published
Oct 12, 2023
Birkenstock Holding Plc’s shares opened trading 11% below their price in the company’s $1.48 billion initial public offering in a debut that could cool what had been a fledgling rebound in US listings.
The German sandal maker’s debut is the worst opening for a listing of $1 billion or more in New York in over two years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Out of more than 300 US IPOs of that size in the past century, only nine have fared worse, the last being AppLovin Corp., which opened 12.5% below its IPO price in April 2021, the data show.
In a fourth big test of the US market in a month, the German footwear maker’s shares opened trading Wednesday at $41 a share after selling for $46 in the IPO. The offering itself was priced below the midpoint of the marketed range of $44 to $49, with Birkenstock and its private equity owner, L Catterton, selling about 32 million shares on Tuesday.
The shares were trading at $41.35 at 1:35 p.m. in New York, giving the company a market value of $7.76 billion. Including shares reserved for executives, directors and employees, the company has a diluted value closer to $8.4 billion.
The company sold 10.8 million of the shares, while L Catterton offered 21.5 million. The buyout firm and its affiliates will continue to own about 83% of the stock and control the company, according to filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
The offering is being led by Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley. Birkenstock shares are trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BIRK.
