Dr Martens’ senior staff make millions after £3.7bn IPO

// Dr Martens’ float has made multimillionaires out of its senior staff
// Leading shareholders have been revealed as the US’ largest money manager and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund
// Dr Martens revealed a £3.7 billion float last month

Dr Martens’ stock market listing has reportedly made multimillionaires out of its senior staff, including chief executive Kenny Wilson and chairman Paul Mason.

Wilson offloaded some of his holding in the IPO, and has a 1.12 per cent stake worth £54.7 million, while Mason also sold shares and has a 0.79 per cent stake worth £38.6 million, The Times reported.

Nevertheless, Dr Martens’ leading shareholders have been revealed as the US’ largest money manager and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, following its £3.7 billion float last month.


READ MORE: Dr Martens unveils details of £3.7bn stock market float


The footwear brand and retailer set a 370p-per-share offer price upon its float on February 3.

This gave the company a valuation of £3.7 billion, which made 35 per cent of the business available to investors.

US money manager BlackRock has built a stake of nearly 6.8 per cent, while Singapore’s GIC Private, which manages more than $100 billion of Singapore’s foreign exchange reserves, has acquired a stake of just over four per cent in the retailer.

Meanwhile, the UK’s Fidelity Management & Research, and Janus Henderson and Jupiter, are also among the prominent investors in Dr Martens.

Financial data company Fidelity has a 3.25 per cent stake, Janus Henderson 2.7 per cent, and Jupiter, at 2.03 per cent.

Dr Martens sells its products in more than 60 countries and last year shifted 11 million pairs.

Shares in Dr Martens were priced at 370p a piece, the top of the previously indicated range and giving it an initial value of £3.7 billion.

The stock has risen strongly since then and at the end of last week the business was valued at £4.9 billion — assigned more market worth than Morrisons, the FTSE 100 grocer valued at £4.25 billion.

In the year to the end of last March, Dr Martens made a pre-tax profit of £101 million on revenues of £672 million against Morrison’s profit of £435 million on turnover of £17.5 billion.

Permira, the private equity investor that sold part of its holding in the share offering, bought the business in 2014 for £300 million.

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