BlackRock
BlackRock halves stake in THG as shares in the ecommerce giant plummet
November 2, 2021
BlackRock has sold nearly half its stake in THG, unloading 58 million shares at 195 pence each, marking a 10.3% discount to the stock's closing price Monday and helping drive shares to their lowest price ever.
BlackRock had held a 9.55% stake in the company, the Financial Times reported, making the firm the largest investor behind founder and CEO Matthew Moulding. The £113 million sale follows a steep decline in the stock of the ecommerce giant, formerly The Hut Group, over the past several weeks. Its recent earnings revealed that operating losses have doubled despite increasing revenue, and an investor presentation in October failed to allay concerns about the company's technology unit, Ingenuity.
SoftBank agreed in May to invest up to $1.6 billion in Ingenuity, and the deal raised eyebrows for the high valuation it implied for the unit—nearly £2 billion higher than the current market cap of THG as a whole. The company announced plans last month to cancel Moulding's special share rights and appointed a SoftBank executive to its board, but the stock has continued to plummet.
THG's listing, in September 2020, was the UK's biggest-ever tech IPO and was lauded as a leader in the market recovery following the pandemic. Shares peaked at over 800 pence apiece earlier this year but have fallen more than 50% since the beginning of October. Following news of BlackRock's sale, shares opened Tuesday at 205 pence, dipping as low as 198 in intraday trading.
Featured image by Leon Neal/Getty Images
BlackRock had held a 9.55% stake in the company, the Financial Times reported, making the firm the largest investor behind founder and CEO Matthew Moulding. The £113 million sale follows a steep decline in the stock of the ecommerce giant, formerly The Hut Group, over the past several weeks. Its recent earnings revealed that operating losses have doubled despite increasing revenue, and an investor presentation in October failed to allay concerns about the company's technology unit, Ingenuity.
SoftBank agreed in May to invest up to $1.6 billion in Ingenuity, and the deal raised eyebrows for the high valuation it implied for the unit—nearly £2 billion higher than the current market cap of THG as a whole. The company announced plans last month to cancel Moulding's special share rights and appointed a SoftBank executive to its board, but the stock has continued to plummet.
THG's listing, in September 2020, was the UK's biggest-ever tech IPO and was lauded as a leader in the market recovery following the pandemic. Shares peaked at over 800 pence apiece earlier this year but have fallen more than 50% since the beginning of October. Following news of BlackRock's sale, shares opened Tuesday at 205 pence, dipping as low as 198 in intraday trading.
Featured image by Leon Neal/Getty Images
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