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 for $39 million — which is roughly one-tenth of the $348 million it raised in its 2021 IPO and a fraction of the more than $4 billion valuation it briefly commanded on its first day of trading.
The deal still needs shareholder approval and is expected to close in the second quarter, with proceeds distributed to stockholders sometime in the third quarter. Shares jumped 36% on the news in after-hours trading. The stock had closed Monday at $2.98, giving the company a market cap of $24.5 million — meaning the $39 million sale price actually represented a premium to where shares were already trading.
The 11-year-old brand’s fall has been well-documented. After going public, Allbirds expanded aggressively into physical retail and adjacent product categories — leggings, jackets, performance running shoes — that didn’t connect with its core customers. Losses stacked up a a result; co-founder Tim Brown later admitted the rapid growth had cost the company “some of our DNA.“
American Exchange Group is a privately held, 18-year-old brand management firm and portfolio company that also owns Aerosoles and Jonathan Adler.