THG boss Matt Moulding took to LinkedIn to say he would rather stay in “unpleasant London” than accept private equity firm Apollo’s “unacceptable” bid.
Moulding, who founded the e-commerce company in 2004 before taking it public nearly three years ago, said the bid allowed shareholders to remain invested and for him to stay in charge.
However, the US PE firm reportedly wanted controls over THG’s Beauty and Nutrition arm, where they asked for controlling equity rights.
He also claims the Apollo bid was based upon smart financial engineering and capitalising on THG’s “wildly low share price.”
THG was once valued at £5.4bn, but trading difficulty, profit warnings and market scepticism has seen its market capitalisation erode to £880mlm.
Yet, Moulding blames the share price performance, down 91% since 2020 to 68p, on “Numis led short attacks when they weren’t made a broker to THG.”
He also stated the London Stock Exchange “pain” comes from the 35% of fast money shares that are actively trading, with himself and other long-term shareholders possessing a 65% stake.