Footwear News, a publication from Women’s Wear Daily, recently spoke with Jared Brenner about the $39 million acquisition agreement of footwear company Allbirds by brand management firm American Exchange Group.
While various factors likely contributed to the anticipated acquisition, Jared emphasizes how the ownership structure could have affected the company’s sale options.
“When you give founders a 10-to-1 voting advantage, you are fundamentally agreeing to prioritize found autonomy over immediate shareholder liquidity. It’s a calculated risk,” he tells Footwear News.
“While a Class A structure might have allowed investors to force a sale earlier, the dual-class structure did exactly what it was engineered to do: give the founders the absolute final sale, for better or worse,” he concludes.
