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SoftBank to sell UK e-commerce company THG: £450m loss

  • luc
  • 2022-10-18 14:25:56
  • 323 read
  SoftBank Group will sell its entire stake in the British e-commerce company THG, making the Japanese technolog...

  SoftBank Group will sell its entire stake in the British e-commerce company THG, making the Japanese technology investment group a loss of 450 million pounds a reality.

  SoftBank is liquidating its internal hedge fund after making a series of bad bets, including its acquisition of an 8% stake in THG for around £481m in May 2021.

  SoftBank will receive a £31 million gain after agreeing to sell 67.8 million shares to Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, THG said on Monday. Matt Moulding, co-founder and CEO of THG, agreed to buy the remaining 12.8 million shares from SoftBank.

  The stake sale, which will take place on Thursday, is priced at 39p, down from the company's closing price of 45p on Monday.

  Since SoftBank agreed to buy a stake in THG, the company's shares have plunged more than 92%, largely as the company's business has suffered from slowing sales and shrinking profit margins.

  Founded in 2004, THG focuses on direct-to-consumer sales of beauty and nutrition products. Formerly known as The Hut, the company initially made money selling CDs and DVDs online for other retailers.

  SoftBank has terminated an agreement to buy a fifth of THG's ingenious technology unit for $1.6 billion.

  "We at THG thank SoftBank for their support as a financial and commercial partner, and we will continue to benefit from the relationships they have formed across their international technology portfolio," Moulding said.

  THG’s investment was led by former SoftBank investor Akshay Naheta. Naheta was then managing the group's hedge fund unit, SB Northstar, which is being shuttered after losses of nearly $6 billion.

  In addition to playing a role in the infamous "Nasdaq whale" deal, SB Northstar has made disastrous bets on Norwegian education software company Kahoot and Swedish software group Sinch.

  Naheta left SoftBank in April and is currently based in Abu Dhabi. He is said to be in talks with Rajeev Misra, who will leave SoftBank and set up a new investment fund with the backing of three Abu Dhabi groups.


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