Cash shell Hawkwing’s (HNG) proposed takeover of Internet Fusion could create a small cap lookalike of e-commerce play THG (THG).

Internet Fusion has developed a digital platform called Reactor and acquired nine specialised, web-based retail brands in areas such as surfing, horse riding and camping, which have been brought on to the platform to improve their profitability.

What may excite investors more is the possibility of offering an online retail business engine and warehousing and delivery systems to third parties.

This direct-to-consumer capability looks to be a broadly similar approach to THG, whose Ingenuity platform, which can count clients like Nestle and Johnson and Johnson, has generated much of the excitement around the shares since its stock market listing in September 2020.

The most recent set of Internet Fusion accounts filed with Companies House – covering the 12 months to 30 November 2019 – showed a pre-tax loss of £14.6 million on turnover of £81.1 million.

Assuming the deal goes through the enlarged group will be chaired by John Browett who previously served as chief executive of Dunelm (DNLM), Dixons and Tesco.com.

Hawkwing’s shares are now suspended pending publication of documents related to the takeover.

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