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* London IPO could value the firm at over 2 bln stg
* Owner Permira to sell down part of its stake
* Busy IPO season expected as 2020 backlog builds up
(Adds background, quotes)
By Abhinav Ramnarayan and Carolyn Cohn
LONDON, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Classic British boot brand Dr.
Martens announced its intention to pursue a London stock market
listing on Monday, kicking off what is expected to be a brisk
start to the year for European initial public offerings (IPOs)
after a pandemic-disrupted 2020.
Private equity owner Permira will sell part of its stake in
the IPO, alongside other existing shareholders, Dr. Martens said
in a statement, with a source close to the transaction saying
the deal could value the firm at more than 2 billion pounds
($2.70 billion).
Permira bought Dr. Martens, known for its yellow stitching
and a youth culture staple, in 2014 for 380 million euros
($463.26 million).
The boot maker was founded in 1947 and had revenues of 672
million pounds in the year ended March 31, 2020, a company
statement said.
No new shares will be issued as part of the IPO, which would
give the company a free float of at least 25%, it added.
The announcement comes with Britain back in lockdown to stem
the rapid spread of a new variant of the coronavirus and after
the pandemic pushed most of the world into a recession in 2020.
Markets have remained resilient, however, with investors
confident that vaccination programmes and fiscal stimulus will
get the global economy back in gear later this year.
"Markets have continued their performance from last year...
which means that this will be the first of a significant number
of IPO announcements. The pipeline is very full," said a second
source close to the Dr. Martens deal.
"Companies that have profited from the current environment
or have a high degree of resilience to it have a good deal
available to them," he added.
World stocks have risen around 3% so far
this year, while Britain's FTSE 100 is up 6%.
Companies such as AUTO1 and Otto Group in Germany, Polish
postal service InPost and tech firms Darktrace and Deliveroo in
Britain are all believed to be planning listings in early 2021.
Since taking control of Dr. Martens, Permira has expanded
the firm's global presence, reporting an average 20% to 30%
percent revenue growth in recent years.
Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are joint
global co-ordinators for the offering, and Barclays,
HSBC, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch and RBC
Europe are joint bookrunners. Lazard is financial
adviser.
($1 = 0.8203 euros)
($1 = 0.7410 pounds)
(Reporting by Carolyn Cohn and Abhinav Ramnarayan
Editing by Rachel Armstrong, Kirsten Donovan)
