eCommerce giant The Hut Group plans £4.5bn IPO

eCommerce giant The Hut Group is planning a stock market flotation which could value the company at £4.5 billion.

The company plans to list at least 20% of its stock, using a fixed offer price. The Manchester-based group’s lifestyle brands include sports nutrition firm Myprotein and makeup lines Lookfantasic and Illamasq, which it acquired in 2015.

It also sells third-party branded products such as those made by Glossybox and LookFantastic, Lego and Levi’s through its websites.

Last year the firm reported revenue of £1.1bn, up 24.5% year-on-year.

The group said it plans to use the money raised from the flotation to expand its business as the popularity of eCommerce continues to boom, now offering third-party logistics and infrastructure.

If it goes ahead, the share sale would be the largest in London this year, during a 19% dip in IPOs during the first half of the year.

The firm, which was founded in 2004 as a white label eCommerce platform, was powering the online sites of Asda, Tesco and Zavvi within its first year.

“THG has enjoyed strong growth since being founded in 2004, employing more than 7,000 people and establishing a track record of consistent delivery for our customers,” THG Chief Executive and co-founder Matthew Moulding told Reuters.

Moulding would gain a ‘founder’s share’ under the deal,  allowing him to veto takeovers and receiving a considerable payout, contingent on him delivering very rapid growth, taking the company’s valuation to £7.25bn in two years.