Kicking off in style! Dr Martens shares jump on stock market debut amid strong demand from investors as the company is valued at over £3.7bn
- Dr Martens set target price of 370p per share but stock opened up 15% at 425p
- Today it’s the first day of conditional trading
- Stock to fully list on the main market of London Stock Exchange on Wednesday
Shares in Dr Martens have jumped on their first day of trading on the London Stock Exchange after strong demand from investors, valuing the company at more than £3.7billion.
The iconic boot maker, which started conditional trading today under the ticker DOCS, had set a target price of 370p per share, but the stock opened almost 15 per cent higher at 425p.
While only investors who had applied for shares are allowed to trade today, unconditional trading will being on Wednesday next week, when the company will fully list on the main market of the London Stock Exchange.
The company said the IPO was eight times oversubscribed, with shares rising further to around 444p by 9:30am.
In fashion: Shares in Dr Martens have jumped on their first day of trading on the London Stock Exchange after strong demand from investors
Chief executive Kenny Wilson said they were ‘delighted’ by the ‘strong levels of interest’ from investors.
‘The successful transformation of Dr Martens is a great story, and what is even more exciting is the huge potential ahead,’ he added.
‘We are proud to take our place as a London listed company, both delivering as a successful plc and, more importantly, continuing to grow our brand around the world.’
Private equity owner Permira, which is selling 350million shares, is set to make £1.3billion from the float.
But they could sell a further 52.5million shares on top of that, following heavy demand. Sale of the additional shares would mean 40.3 per cent of its stock was publicly traded.
The Griggs family, who sold Dr Martens to Permira in 2014 for £300million but retained a near-10 per cent stake, is set for a windfall of around £350million.
The brand, which traces its roots back to 1901, has become popular with fashionistas such as Rita Ora.
Its chunky footwear has undergone a revival following a dark period in the early 2000s when Dr Martens came close to bankruptcy, and it shut down all bar one of its British factories.
But the firm has flourished under private equity firm Permira, which multiplied sales six-fold to £672million since acquiring it in 2014.
Dr Martens is one of several IPOs that have kicked off in Europe this year.
Moonpig is set to float a quarter of its business on the London market next month with an expected price per share of around 350p.