Pure Beauty

THG’s Moulding gives up ‘golden share’ following share price fall

Published: 18-Oct-2021

Lookfantastic owner hopes the cancellation of founder's controlling share will demonstrate good corporate governance

Matthew Moulding, founder and CEO of The Hut Group (THG), is giving up his ‘golden share’ in the company.

Today’s announcement comes after the British online retail and tech company suffered a 35% share price collapse last week, following a poorly-received investor presentation, which raised questions over the group’s profitability, share structure and valuation.

THG said the cancellation of Moulding’s controlling share would promote ‘good corporate governance’ and help it apply for a premium listing in London, which it hopes to secure in 2022; at present, Moulding’s golden share prevents a premium listing and THG cannot be included in the FTSE.

“After the anniversary of our 2020 listing we feel that the time is right to make this next step and apply to the premium segment in 2022, thereby continuing the development of THG as we endeavour to deliver our strategy for the benefit of our shareholders, key stakeholders and employees,” Moulding said.

Shares in the owner of Lookfantastic and Glossybox rose 8% in early trading following Moulding's announcement.

However, share prices are still 50-plus% lower than at the start of September, more than halving in price amid concerns surrounding the lack of financial detail provided about the group’s e-commerce technology and operating platform Ingenuity; THG had revealed it planned to spin off the division into a separate company ahead of its slated 2022 IPO.

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