Allbirds, the wool sneaker brand that became a kind of unofficial uniform for the Silicon Valley set, has agreed to sell all of its assets and intellectual property to American Exchange Group. $39 million — which is about a tenth of the $348 million it raised in its 2021 IPO and a fraction of the $4 billion valuation It placed orders briefly on the first day of trading.
The deal still requires shareholder approval and is expected to close in the second quarter, with proceeds distributed to stockholders sometime in the third quarter. After this news, shares jumped 36% in after-hours trading. The stock closed at $2.98 on Monday, giving the company a market cap of $24.5 million — meaning the $39 million sale price actually represents a premium to where shares were already trading.
The decline of the brand has been well documented. After going public, Allbirds aggressively expanded into physical retail and adjacent product categories – leggings, jackets, performance running shoes – that did not connect with its core customers. As a result the losses increased; Co-founder Tim Brown later admitted that the company had suffered losses due to rapid growth.Some of our DNA“
American Exchange Group is a privately held, 18-year-old brand management firm and portfolio company that also owns Aerosols and Jonathan Adler.
