THG shares rise on renewed go-private speculation

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Dec 22, 2021

Speculation has resurfaced that THG (formerly The Hut Group) could be taken private again by its founder with the firm’s battered share price rising as investors buy in hopes of a privately-backed buyout.

The shares rose 5% on Wednesday morning alone and are up by over 32% since last Thursday. But at £2.27 each, they remain far below the almost £8 they fetched back in January, meaning a buyout does remain an affordable proposition.

But would it happen? Bloomberg seems to think so and reported on Tuesday that THG was once again looking at exiting the stock market after little more than a year as a listed business.

The company itself has dismissed reports of it being taken private as “pure speculation”. But the talk has refused to die down since founder and CEO Matt Moulding said last month in a GQ interview that a small number of shareholders (including himself) owned more than half of the shares and that he had an open mind about the thought of buying it back.

The share price rise also appears to reflect some relief that THG hasn’t been forced into any profit warnings like other digital retailers have pre-Christmas. 

And City research firm The Analyst just saying it no longer expected the shares to keep falling would also have had an effect.