Birkenstock rode the pandemic comfort boom to L Catterton and a $9.2B NYSE IPO

The pandemic redrew footwear demand around staying home, and the 250-year-old German sandal maker sat on top of the winning category. Revenue rose from €727.9 million in fiscal 2020 to €1,242.8 million in fiscal 2022 — a 31% two-year CAGR — while units grew at a 12% CAGR and average selling prices at a 16% CAGR, meaning the boom was harvested at full price rather than discounted away. Gross margin expanded from 55% to 60%, net profit reached €187.1 million, and adjusted EBITDA hit €434.6 million, a 35% margin.

The decisive move came at the boom's midpoint: on February 26, 2021 the family-owned company agreed to sell a majority stake to LVMH-backed L Catterton, with Bernard Arnault's family office Financière Agache joining, in a deal Reuters reported valued the business at about €4 billion. The stated agenda was China and India expansion plus a bigger direct-to-consumer business — exactly what a family firm could not fund alone.

Under the new owners the economics kept compounding: DTC penetration climbed from 30% of revenues in fiscal 2020 to 38% in fiscal 2022, and revenue for the nine months ended June 30, 2023 rose another 21% to €1,117.4 million on 15% higher ASPs. The company ended the fiscal year with an adjusted EBITDA margin above 30%.

The exit came on Wall Street: in October 2023 Birkenstock marketed 32.26 million shares at $44-49, targeting a valuation of up to $9.2 billion and a raise of about $1.58 billion, and priced at $46 on October 10 — roughly double the value implied at the 2021 control sale, and a debut that made it one of the largest consumer IPOs of the listings recovery.

Revenue €727.9M (FY2020) to €1,242.8M (FY2022), 31% two-year CAGR; gross margin 55% to 60%; ~€4B L Catterton deal, then a $9.2B NYSE listing.

The demand shock was asymmetric: closed offices and cancelled travel favored one category, and Birkenstock had the brand and capacity to absorb it.

Price over volume: ASPs rose 16% a year while units rose 12%, so the boom compounded margins instead of diluting them.

Selling control to L Catterton — with the Arnault family office alongside — attached luxury retail capital and DTC expertise at the cycle's peak.

The DTC mix shift (30% to 38%) turned sandal demand into a margin story, which is what the IPO market ultimately priced.

When a shock favors your category, the real decision is how to monetize it: Birkenstock sold control at the top of pandemic comfort demand and let luxury capital industrialize the win.

The public market graded the story harder than the private one: the stock opened its NYSE debut at $41, below the $46 offer price, and slid 7% on January 18, 2024 after the company warned of a 'modest headwind' to margins in 2024 while reporting a quarterly loss of €28.3 million. Management framed the spending as scale-up — nearly €150 million of 2024 investment in stores and capacity against 17-18% revenue growth guidance — leaving the entry discipline intact: a brand bought at ~€4 billion in 2021 and floated at up to $9.2 billion in 2023, with the growth engine still running.