Birkenstock, the manufacturer of comfortable but fashionable sandals, goes to bed with the king of luxury goods
Birkenstock said on Friday it would sell a majority stake in its business to L Catteron, a privately held firm backed by LVMH, which owns state-of-the-art fashion brands such as Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior.
French billionaire and LVMH chief Bernard Arnault is also involved in trading, as is his family investment fund Financiere Agache. The conditions of sale have not been disclosed, but it is estimated that the German footwear business owned by a family is $ 4.85 billion.
While the manufacturer of uncomfortable sandals may not seem like an obvious match for LVMH, the investment comes as the luxury goods manufacturer has sought to increase its appeal among young people.
Owner Moet Hennessy said this week that he won a 50% stake in Jay Z’s Armand de Brignac champagne brand.
And, while agreeing with Rihanna in 2019 to create fashion for Fenty waiting “waiting for better conditions”, L Catterton took a stake in the lingerie line of the pop singer.
Birkenstock has a huge construction that grew only in the last year, in which it generated record sales, the company said.
The agreement aims to help Birkenstock expand into China and India, as well as expand its e-commerce business, the company said in a statement.
Relatives of the founding family, brothers Alex and Christian Birkenstock, will remain with the Birkenstock management, the company said.
“Birkenstock was founded almost 250 years ago and has become one of the few iconic brands in the footwear industry. We really appreciate brands with this long legacy, “Arnault said in a statement.
Birkenstock “is a brand that defines a category and is the classic, iconic brand for it,” said Richard Kestenbaum, a partner at Triangle Capital for The Post. “This has to be appealing to LVMH and the way I think about brands is not even strictly luxurious as it is generally defined.”