Jupiter Fund Management has halved its stake in Manchester online retailer THG.
The fund, which manages shares in THG on behalf of BNP Paribas, Northern Trust and Citigroup, has reduced its holding from 8.94 per cent to 4.97 per cent, according to documents newly filed with the London Stock Exchange.
THG was in the news recently when it was revealed that founder, chief executive and majority shareholder Matthew Moulding, who owns around 22 per cent of THG, had handed almost £1m-worth of shares to unnamed friends. A planned $1.6bn invesmtent in THG by Japanese investment giant SoftBank also fell through last month by “mutual consent.”
Jupiter has not been entirely bereft of headlines itself recently. In July its CEO Andrew Formica suddenly quit. He told Bloomberg at the time: “I just want to go sit at the beach and do nothing. I’m not thinking about anything else.” Jupiter later clarified that Formica had returned from the UK to Australia to spend more time with his family.
Shares in THG, which is home to brands including Cult Beauty, ESPA and Perricone MD, had slipped by around one per cent to 64.88p on Monday afternoon. They had stood at just over 77p in mid-July, ahead of the SoftBank withdrawal.
