Birkenstock, the iconic German sandal brand, expects to price its initial public offering (IPO) at $46, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
That falls squarely in the middle of its expected range of $44 to $49 per share and gives the company a tentative valuation of roughly $8.64 billion. That would be a higher market cap than Crocs and comparable to Swiss shoe brand On Running.
The price has yet to be confirmed by Birkenstock and could change. The company originally sought a valuation of up to $9.2 billion.
Birkenstock is expected to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday under the ticker symbol BRK.
The company initially said it expected to sell roughly 10.75 million ordinary shares, which could raise about $495 million. That, plus the more than 21.5 million shares that stockholders are expected to sell, could bring in around $1.48 billion in total.
Birkenstock's approach has been bolstered by strong early investor interest with LVMH shareholder Financiere Agache expressing interest in purchasing US$325 million worth of shares, while Durable Capital Partners and Norges Bank Investment Management are considering building a stake worth US$300 million, the retailer revealed in a filing.
Contact Andrew Kessel at andrew.kessel@proactiveinvestors.com
Follow him on Twitter @andrew_kessel