Allbirds Targeting $2 Billion Valuation With IPO
Next up in the rush to Wall Street is Allbirds, which is looking to snag an IPO valuation of $1.7 billion to $2 billion — or more if underwriters decide to purchase more shares.
On Monday morning, the company updated its registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, setting a target price for the offering of $12 to $14 a share. That’s the price that will be paid by the big institutional investors who buy into the IPO and will turn around immediately and start selling the stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “BIRD.”
More from WWD
The actually offering price should be finalized soon.
The company itself plans to sell at least 15.4 million shares in the offering, raising more than $181 million to keep being Allbirds.
“The principal purposes of this offering are to increase our capitalization and financial flexibility and create a public market for our Class A common stock,” the company said, adding, “we cannot specify with certainty all of the particular uses for the net proceeds we receive from this offering. However, we currently intend to use the net proceeds we receive from this offering for general corporate purposes.”
WWD was first to report in June that Allbirds had filed confidentially for an IPO — and since then the next generation’s move toward Wall Street has only intensified with recent offerings from Warby Parker Inc. to beauty standout Olaplex and jewelry company Brilliant Earth Group.
Allbirds’ IPO will let everyday investors get on board, but it won’t let them have very much of a say in how the company operates.
After the offering, the holders of the company’s Class B shares will continue to control 98.5 percent of the voting rights. That means the company’s co-chief executive officers and cofounders Joey Zwillinger and Tim Brown and the existing backers that helped them build the business will remain at the helm. Together, Zwillinger and Brown control 22 percent of the company’s voting power.
Allbirds said it’s control with a purpose, though, and that the dual class structure “is designed to allow for a thoughtful calibration of long-term objectives with short-term demands.”
“When our founders established Allbirds, they set out to create a purpose-native company built upon a system that leverages nature in a responsible way — every aspect of our company is woven together with this mission, fueling a thriving financial business,” the company said. “While many businesses see tension between profit and purpose, we see opportunity. We became a public benefit corporation…in 2016, codifying how we take into account the impact our actions have on all of our stakeholders, including the environment, our flock of employees, communities, consumers and investors. The more sustainable we are, the better we believe our products and business will be. We are proud of the alignment of financial and environmental benefits from our work, and that we are able to serve as a driving force in a new age of sustainable enterprise.”
Now the trick is going to be to realize that opportunity.
Allbirds logged losses of $25.8 million in 2020 as sales increased by 13 percent to $219.3 million despite the pandemic.
MORE FROM WWD:
Rent the Runway’s $1.5 Billion Next Step
