Dr Martens shares slump: should you give it the boot?

Over the past three years, Dr Martens has fallen out of fashion. Are the shares worth a look?

 Jose Pastor wearing Dr Martens for the Jose María Forque Awards 2023
(Image credit: Juan Naharro Gimenez/WireImage)

Dr Martens’ shares have slumped by 85% since listing three years ago. Are they now cheap, or could there be more pain ahead for investors? In 2011, after 50 years in control, the owners of Dr Martens, the Griggs family, put the business up for sale. At first, they couldn’t find a buyer willing to pay the price they were asking. But eventually, in 2013, a deal was struck with private equity firm Permira for £300 million. 

The takeover was for the assets of R Griggs & Co., the firm that manufactured and distributed the shoes, and for the right in perpetuity to use the Dr Martens brand. The actual ownership of the brand was retained by the Griggs family. In the year before the deal, the company generated £22.6 million in pre-tax profits on £126 million in revenue. 

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Jamie is an analyst and former fund manager. He writes about companies for MoneyWeek and consults on investments to professional investors.