The Hut Group outlines plans for 4.5 billion pound IPO

Online beauty and wellbeing retailer The Hut Group (THG) has confirmed plans to float on the London Stock Exchange with a target valuation of 4.5 billion pounds.

The IPO aims to raise around 920 million pounds by issuing new shares. The company intends to have a free float of at least 20 percent of its issued share capital.

The fast-growing Manchester-based company, whose portfolio includes fashion brands MyBag, Coggles, and All Sole, as well as online beauty destination Lookfantastic.com, has proved itself well-positioned in recent years with consumers’ continued shift to online.

Founded in 2004, the company now employs more than 7,000 people and in 2019 achieved year-on-year revenue growth of 24.5 percent to reach 1.1 billion pounds with adjusted EBITDA of 111.3 million pounds.

THG confirms plans for market float

“Our intention to float THG on the London Stock Exchange reflects the achievements of the past but also our strong belief in the significant potential for THG in the future,” CEO and founder Matthew Moulding said in a statement.

“The brands we own today give us leading strategic positions in prestige beauty and nutrition, powered by Ingenuity, our differentiated proprietary direct-to-consumer e-commerce solution. Ingenuity powers not just our brands but those of many other leading consumer brand owners around the world creating a highly resilient, vertically integrated business with significant growth opportunities.”

Last month, THG called in Citi, JP Morgan, Barclays, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Jefferies and Numis, to work on a stock market flotation, Sky News reported.

Photo credit: THG CEO and founder Matthew Moulding, courtesy of THG