Two years after announcing its partnership with Roger Federer, Swiss shoemaker On Holdings has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) in New York, seeking a valuation between US$6 billion and US$8 billion (AU$8.3 billion to AU$11 billion).
The rise of On Holdings has been impressively steady in recent years, beyond successfully leveraging the star power of a 20-time Grand Slam champion. After its latest round of funding back in April, On Holdings was already valued at close to US$2 billion (AU$2.8 billion). And as per the SEC filing, in the six months leading up to June 30th…
- Net sales increased by 85% to 316 million Swiss francs (AU$476.7 million); online sales alone spiked by 200% during the pandemic
- Net income increased from a loss of 33.1 million Swiss francs (AU$49.9 million) the year prior to 3.8 million Swiss francs (AU$5.7 million) in the green
- A global presence in approximately 8,100 retailers has been achieved, including a flagship store in New York that opened last December
- Bonus: the Zurich-based sneaker firm has been dubbed “one of the world’s fastest-growing maker of running shoes“
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US venture capital firm Stripes holds a 12.4% stake in the On Holdings, while Alex Perez’s Point Break Capital holds 25.4%, and Asian private equity operation Hillhouse retains 6.1%. Roger Federer himself joined as an “active co-entrepreneur and investor” circa 2019, although it’s unclear how much the man has kicked in the company’s direction vis-a-vis dollars + cents Swiss francs (or what percentage of ownership it translates into).
“We noticed Roger wearing On shoes and reached out to him,” Olivier Bernhard – who co-founded On alongside David Allemann and Caspar Coppetti in 2010 – explained during the partnership announcement.
“It became clear that there was a unique opportunity to forge a joint entrepreneurial path that is very different from an athletic sponsorship that a big company would do.”
Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, UBS, and Credit Suisse are among the first underwriters for the On Holdings IPO – the offering size will be US$100 million (AU$138 million) with the ticker code NYSE: ONON.
