Shares tumble after Hut quits takeover talks

SHARES in The Hut Group plunged after it walked away from private equity takeover talks without a deal.

The online retailer, which sells beauty and nutrition products through websites such as LookFantastic and Myprotein, ended talks with Apollo after deciding there was ‘no longer any merit in continuing to engage’ with the American group.

The news sent shares in THG – as it is now known – down 15.8pc, or 11.84p, to 62.9p in yet another bleak day for investors and founder Matthew Moulding ( pictured).

The company has lost almost 90pc of its value since listing on the stock market with a value of £5.4bn or 500p a share in 2020.

Moulding, who in the past has said THG’s time on the stock market has ‘just sucked from start to finish’, yesterday added: ‘Yes, it’s unpleasant being listed in London.’ Moulding, who is known for using social media, took to Instagram to explain why he had rejected the deal despite its attractions.

‘ It’s well known that PE [ private equity] deals are lucrative for management,’ he said. ‘ THG would be worth billions more away from the daily market manipulation involving bankers, hedge funds and pundits.’

But he insisted Apollo’s offer ‘wasn’t right’ for THG, adding it was ‘based upon smart financial engineering, capitalising on a wildly low share price from THG being on the LSE’.

Moulding said ‘just about every major PE firm has enquired about taking THG private’ but ‘usually nobody finds out’.

AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said: ‘Investors hoping a takeover would put both them and the company’s torrid existence as a public entity out of their misery will be disappointed.’