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THG PLC shares fell on Thursday after two suitors ended their pursuit of the online beauty products seller.
Venture capital firm Candy Ventures Sarl, owned by Nick Candy, said it does not plan on making a bid for THG. It had said in May it was in the ‘very early stages’ of considering a possible offer.
Candy's decision to not mount a firm offer follows a private equity consortium which earlier on Thursday also confirmed its interest in THG will not result in an official bid.
Belerion Capital Group Ltd confirmed that it, together with King Street Capital Management LP, does not intend to make a takeover offer for THG.
The Belerion consortium made a proposal of 170 pence per share for THG. It had until the close of play on Thursday to decline whether or not to make a firm offer.
Shares in THG were down 21% at 83.00 pence each in London on Thursday morning, valuing it at £1.03 billion.
THG, in its own statement, noted that all recent approaches to acquire the company have been unsolicited.
These were also ‘unacceptable and significantly undervalued the company’.
THG said it did not consider it appropriate to provide due diligence access to any of these parties.
‘While THG is clearly aware of the macro-economic challenges, the company continues to perform well, and in line with its own expectations,’ said THG.
THG made its London Stock Exchange debut back in September 2020. But life as a listed company has not been plain-sailing for the company since then.
Shares floated at 500 pence each. It is trading 83% below its IPO price.
A capital markets day in October of last year, made to shore up investor confidence, spooked traders instead. THG's stock has faced heavy selling pressure since then.
Also in October 2021, founder and Chief Executive Matthew Moulding announced he would give up his so-called 'golden share', clearing away a corporate governance issue that has troubled investors and opening up the possibility of joining FTSE indices. The move was made ‘in furtherance of good corporate governance’.
The share allowed Moulding to veto any takeover bid for three years. It has been unpopular with investors and blocks THG from joining the FTSE 100 or FTSE 250 indices.
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