All you need to know about Dr. Martens’ IPO

Beloved boot brand Dr. Martens offered some cheer to battled trading floors on the last Friday of January when it launched its initial public offering (IPO) on the London Stock Exchange. Here is everything you need to know about the second fashion IPO of 2021. “We have been delighted by the strong levels of interest, engagement, and support from such a high quality selection of institutional investors,” said CEO Kenny Wilson in the offer-price announcement. It’s worth recalling that Permira, owner of the brand, had been exploring options for offloading Dr. Martens since mid-2019. The private equity fund announced its intention to float Dr. Martens on January, 18. After the IPO, Permira still owns 75 percent of the boot maker’s equity. Dr Martens enters London Stock Exchange * Dr. Martens has operated as a private company for eight years, since Permira acquired it for 300 million pounds. * The company’s group revenue rose 18 percent in the six months ended September, 30. * Dr. Martens will trade using the ticker DOCS and it will be listed on the London Stock Exchange. * The company had priced its initial public offering at between 330 pence and 370 pence apiece. The pre-listing reached the top of its announced range, and then seeing an immediate 17 percent bump while London’s FTSE opened in the red. * The offer price of 3.70 pounds (or 5.06 dollars) per share meant Dr. Martens started the trading day with a market capitalisation of about 3.7 billion pounds. * 35 percent of Dr. Martens’ issued share capital was on offer, at a total offer size of 1.295 billion pounds. That’s 350 million shares going into the IPO—mostly from IngreLux, a Luxembourg-based firm owned by funds that are advised by private equity outfit Permira. * The stake of the Griggs family, who sold Dr. Martens to Permira for in 2013 but retained a 10 percent shareholding, is worth 129 million pounds of the windfall. * The IPO was 8x times oversubscribed, making it the biggest UK IPO since e-commerce firm THG’s September flotation, which raised 2.4 billion dollars, as per Yahoo!Finance’s data. * Dr. Martens’ shares’ regular trading on the London Stock Exchange will start on February, 3, once institutional investors have had their chance to invest in the company. * If there is sufficient demand, highlight analysts eyeing the stock, Dr. Martens’ investors have the option to sell a further 52.5 million shares, which would put 40 percent of the company’s issued share capital in public hands once the IPO is complete. Interested in working at Dr Martens? Click here >> Photo: Dr Martens Facebook
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