THG PLC (LSE:THG) provided information to the UK financial watchdog that it says proves hedge funds colluded in an "aggressive short attack" on its shares last year.
The online retail and marketing group, also known as The Hut Group, put together a dossier of data for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) after observing what it believes were irregular stock market trading and short-selling patterns.
Boss Matthew Moulding was reported by the Sunday Times to be particularly suspicious of trading after the group's capital markets day on October 12, when its price plunged by more than a third.
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The company said after the event it knew of no notifiable reason for the material share price movement, with no material new information having been disclosed.
But anecdotal evidence and broker commentary suggested Moulding failed to reassure investors at the event, didn’t address concerns and left analysts with more questions than answers
And in the aftermath of the investor event it was reported the company had said major Japanese investor SoftBank would not be exercising its option early to buy a 20% stake in its THG Ingenuity arm, which was among the possible triggers suggested for the sharp share price fall, as it raised fresh uncertainties about how the tech business may be funded in the future.
Days later, Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager, reportedly ditched half its shareholding in THG too.