Japanese investor SoftBank has taken a loss of around £450 million ($509 million) after selling its stake in British e-commerce company THG.
SoftBank 9984, -0.22% sold its entire interest in THG THG, +9.77%, formerly known as The Hut Group, to co-founder and chief executive Matthew Moulding and the Qatar Investment Authority for £31.4 million ($35.6 million).
On Monday night, THG told shareholders that the stock will be sold for 39 pence.
The British retailer’s stock rose on Tuesday by as much as 15%, to 52 pence.
SoftBank has sold 67.8 million shares to Qatar Holding and 12.8 million shares to Moulding, taking the co-founder’s total shareholding to 198.7 million shares after the sale closes.
“I’m delighted to be further increasing my family’s stake in THG, continuing our unswerving support following on from other recent share purchases,” Moulding said.
“On an underlying basis the group is cheap but we see little catalyst coming from trading considering the consumer backdrop,” said Liberum equity analyst Wayne Brown.
“However the further increase in Mouldings stake and by QIA may very well increase rumours that THG will be subject to a potential management buyout,” he added.
Moulding set up The Hut Group with John Gallmore in 2004 in the north of England. The company sells a variety of beauty and nutrition brands and also manages Ingenuity, its technology platform.
THG’s stock has dropped by as much as 85% this year, and last month it issued a profit warning which predicted a 10-15% shortfall in full-year sales this year caused by waning consumer appetite.
SoftBank invested in THG back in 2021 through its investment vehicle SB Northstar, taking an 8% stake in the retailer for around £481 million.
It comes after the Japanese conglomerate posted its largest-ever quarterly loss of ¥3.1trillion ($23 billion) for the third quarter to June, which was driven by a weak yen and poor performance of its flagship tech investments in the Vision Fund.
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