Birkenstock to debut in NY with $8.6b IPO valuation

NEW YORK, Oct 11 (AFP): German sandals maker Birkenstock is set to debut on the New York stock exchange Wednesday with a valuation of $8.6 billion that belies its former dowdy image, with the brand now a fashion favorite and the pink footwear of choice for "Barbie."
Birkenstock has set its share price at $46, the firm said in a press release early Wednesday. A total of 32.26 million ordinary shares will be offered in its initial public offering, trading under the symbol BIRK.
Birkenstock started life as an orthopedic shoemaker, but has since shed its unflattering association with sock-and-sandal-wearing Germans to become a fashion accessory, as illustrated in the latest Hollywood blockbuster "Barbie."
Birkenstock traces its roots back to 1774 and Johann Adam Birkenstock, who worked as a cobbler in Langen-Bergheim, a small community in western Germany.