Dr Martens confirms London IPO for February
Iconic British bootmaker Dr Martens has confirmed it will IPO, floating on the London Stock Exchange in February after more than 60 years in business.
The official statement firms up intentions to float released on the 11 January.
Final offer pricing will be announced following the book-building process, although it has been reported elsewhere that it could be worth as much as £3bn ($4.1bn).
Goldman Sachs (GS) and Morgan Stanley (MS) are joint global co-ordinators for the offering, while Barclays (BCS), HSBC (HSBA.L), Bank of America-Merrill Lynch (BAC) and RBC Europe have been roped in as joint bookrunner in Europe.
Dr Martens appears to have weathered the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic well, despite it taking a toll on the retail sector overall. Its group revenue was £318m in the six months ended 30 September 2020, a rise of 18% year-on-year.
It repaid its furlough money back to the British government in August following good financial results.
The company sells more than 11 million pairs of shoes every year in around 60 countries.
The float comes nearly seven years after the company was bought by private equity group Permira Sales for £300m. Sales under the new ownership have surged, rising from £160m in 2013 to £672m in the year to March 2020.
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The company has said there would be no sale of new shares in the IPO, which would give the company a free float of at least 25%. It expects that it would be eligible for inclusion in the FTSE UK indices.
It is also expected that shares representing up to a further 15% of the offer will be made available pursuant to an over-allotment option.
Further details will be released with the company’s prospectus, which has not yet been published.
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