Birkenstock is on the point of make its move.

Sources told WWD the German sandal brand’s key owner — private equity giant L Catterton — is meeting with bankers because it prepares to explore options for the business, including a possible initial public offering. 

While one financial source said the shoe company could move to go public this fall, one other suggested that timing could be ambitious. 

Regardless, Birkenstock is claimed to have gone from strength to strength recently as its cozy sandals resonate with consumers keen to remain casual post-pandemic. 

A spokeswoman for L Catterton, which describes itself as the most important consumer-focused private equity group on the planet, declined to comment on Thursday.

The Greenwich, Connecticut-based investor bought control of Birkenstock together with Financière Agache in 2021 — and while the valuation was never revealed, it was said on the time to be around 4 billion euros. 

The blockbuster deal gave luxury titan Bernard Arnault two predominant points of contact on the brand as L Catterton counts his LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton amongst its backers and Financière Agache is his family investment vehicle. 

Which means Arnault, if he desired to own the brand outright, would have a head start on any competition, although there are only a few investors apart from Arnault or one in all the opposite luxury titans who’re in a position to buy fashion brands at that scale. 

As for an IPO, much will depend in the marketplace for brand spanking new offerings, which went from red hot in 2021 — when Dr. Martens, On Holding, Allbirds Inc. and Warby Parker Inc. went public — and right into a deep freeze last 12 months when investors were thrown by inflation, the war in Ukraine and economic uncertainty.  

Recently there have been signs of a thaw in the buyer IPO space, although the economic environment stays uncertain. 

The for-profit thrift store Savers went public last month, as did Mediterranean fast-casual restaurant Cava Group Inc. Likewise, beauty and wellness tech company Oddity Tech filed for an offering and Italian footwear company ACBC is gearing as much as file for an IPO on the Latest York Stock Exchange, which could happen early next 12 months.

That’s quite a lot of corporations testing the waters.

If it did go public, Birkenstock would make an enormous splash and signal a serious comeback for the market, which gains momentum with each recent offering. 

The method would also unveil Birkenstock’s financials for the primary time, fleshing out the industry’s understanding of what’s a singular fashion story. The brand is one in all the oldest and traces its roots back to 1774, when Johann Adam Birkenstock was listed as “cobbler” within the church archives of Langen-Bergheim. 

Birkenstock has played on that heritage in addition to its anatomically shaped footbed to carve out a novel area of interest in fashion, through collaborations with the likes of Rick Owens and Jerry Lorenzo’s Fear of God or ads featuring Manolo Blahnik.

With that fashion profile, Birkenstock has just a little little bit of every little thing — a well known brand, deep heritage, comfortable footwear, big designer connections, big finance connections and, possibly soon, a stock ticker. 

There are definitely loads of other brands watching the market closely and attempting to gauge their very own opportunities, although few corporations can boast anything just like the longevity Birkenstock has enjoyed. 

Rihanna’s Savage x Fenty, which can also be backed by L Catterton, is seen as one other IPO candidate, together with Kim Kardashian’s Skims. Then there are corporations that were said to be considering of an IPO back in 2021 but never made the jump, resembling Kate Hudson’s Fabletics, in addition to other private equity-backed brands, including the Permira-owned Reformation. 

But as the category of 2021 IPOs discovered, going public is just step one. With the brilliant lights and massive money of Wall Street comes investor scrutiny and recent pressures to perform. 

Just ask Allbirds, Rent the Runway, Olaplex, Warby Parker or Dr. Martens. All of them went public in 2021 and of the bunch, Dr. Martens has held up the most effective — with a stock decline of about 74 percent.