THG boss Matt Moulding gives up share power after billions wiped off the value of the business

The Hut Group's Matt Moulding

Matt Moulding, the executive chairman and chief executive of THG, has announced he will scrap his ‘golden share’ which allows him to exercise his influence over other shareholders and potentially block a hostile takeover.

In a week which has seen billions wiped off the value of his THG business, the way he runs his company is set to change.

In a stock market announcement this morning, the group which listed on the London Stock Exchange a year ago, said it plans to move its listing to the premium segment of the London Stock Exchange in 2022.

To do this, Moulding will give up his ‘founder’s share’ during the course of next year.

It will also represent a bid by Moulding to establish a more conventional corporate governance structure.

Moulding said: “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.”  

In recent weeks Moulding has been facing criticism over how the business is run and its failure to disclose information that investors say is now vital to lifting the share price.

At a capital markets day last week, Moulding talked up the potential of its new e-commerce platform, Ingenuity, but immediately saw THG’s shares slump by more than 30% amid scepticism about the lack of granular financial detail provided about the unit.

Sky News also reported that THG has been in talks in recent days about appointing Andreas Hansson, a senior SoftBank executive, as a non-executive director.

Dr Hansson, a former executive at the SoftBank-owned chip designer ARM Holdings, is chairman of Kahoot, an education technology platform also backed by the Japanese group.

The appointment, which has yet to be finalised, would cement a relationship between THG and the Japanese technology investment behemoth that was unveiled in May.

The Manchester-based group owns the online retail sites Lookfantastic, Glossybox, Zavvi and Coggles, as well as beauty brands including ESPA and Illamasqua, and the sports nutrition brand Myprotein,

 

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