Japanese tech investment giant SoftBank has taken on a £450m loss after selling its stake in THG to co-founder Matthew Moulding and the Qatar Investment Authority, the Middle East nation’s sovereign wealth fund.
SoftBank bought an eight per cent share, at the time worth £481m, in the Manchester-headquartered tech and ecommerce giant in May 2021.
More recently, SoftBank abandoned its plan to up its stake to 20 per cent with a $1.6bn deal in July.
In a statement to the LSE, THG said the Japanese bank will receive £31m in proceeds after agreeing to sell 67.8 million shares to Qatar Investment Authority. Moulding, THG’s CEO and co-founder, will buy the remaining 12.8 million shares.
The sale will be finalised on Thursday, October 20, with shares priced at 39p, below THG’s 45p closing price on Monday, October 17.
Mr Moulding said: “I’m delighted to be further increasing my family’s stake in THG, continuing our unswerving support following on from other recent share purchases.
“QIA shares the board’s vision of the scale of opportunity for THG, building a British global success story in large and growing addressable markets. QIA’s long-term investment approach is a positive endorsement for the UK as a whole.
“We at THG extend our thanks to Softbank for their support as a financial and commercial partner, and we will continue to benefit from the relationships formed across their international technology portfolio.”
Quarter Investment Authority was already a minority shareholder in THG, having invested in the company’s IPO in September 2020. Moulding himself has invested over £38m in the company he founded since August 2021.
Last month, THG revealed it had racked up losses of more than £100m during the first six months of 2022. The group posted pre-tax losses of £108.1m for the six months to June 30, compared to losses of £81.3m during the same period in 2021. The figures also reveal that THG’s revenue rose to a record £1.07bn during that time, up from £958.8m. In the year to date, shares in THG have fallen by more than 85 per cent.
