Hut Group lining up $100m swoop for US firm

WARRINGTON-based online retailer The Hut Group is teeing up a $100m takeover of US dieting and sports nutrition company Ideal Shape.

Sky News is reporting the The Hut Group is set poised to unveil the acquisition in the next few days, the latest in a string of purchases which has seen it become of the UK’s most ambitious digital retailers.

The Hut recently bought Skinstore from Boots the Chemist and now also owns Myprotein, Grow Gorgeos and Myvitamins.

Ideal Shape, founded in 2003, is a specialist for female consumers and is growing revenues by more than 250% annually.

The Hut Group is understood to be funding the deal from its existing financial resources.

Chaired by Richard Pennycook, the chief executive of the Co-operative Group, The Hut Group’s investors include Lord Rose, the chairman of Ocado.

The Hut Group was launched in 2004 by its current chief executive Matt Moulding, and John Gallemore to provide a technology platform for retailers requiring e-commerce services.

The company sold a 19.2% stake to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, one of the world’s leading private equity firms, in 2014, while Balderton Capital, a technology investor, owns an identical stake.

Blackrock, the world’s biggest asset manager, is also a shareholder.

It now sells third-party branded or own-label health and beauty products across dozens of websites such as Lookfantastic, Exantediet and Mybag.

Last year, it launched beauty brand Elizabeth Arden’s first ecommerce website in the UK and Ireland.

In 2014, the company reported underlying profits up 50% to £22.6m on sales of £244m, a figure which included a 74% rise in international sales.

The Hut Group have refused to comment on the speculation or the reported value of the deal.