The Hut Group makes stellar stock market debut

The Hut Group, the British company behind Lookfantastic and Glossybox, on Wednesday raised £1.88 billion in its initial public offering after selling 376 million shares at 500p each.

The stock market debut by The Hut Group, which reported gross profit of £511 million last year, is the biggest in London since Royal Mail in 2013.

The listing on the London Stock Exchange valued the company at £5.4 billion. In early trading, shares in the company surged by more than 30% to 653.6p.

Matthew Moulding, founder, CEO and chairman of THG said: “I am delighted that THG has received such strong support from some of the world's largest investors, which means we have been able to achieve a highly successful offer of shares in the company.

“The results of the offer are a clear validation of our business model, significant growth prospects, and recognition of the hard work and talent of all our colleagues. Our flotation is the start of an exciting new phase in THG's development and we look forward to sharing that journey with our new shareholders.”

Founded in 2004, The Hut Group has expanded its portfolio with a series of acquisitions over the past few years, adding beauty brands including Illamasqua, Eyeko and Espa to its growing empire.

The business also operates various e-commerce websites and an end-to-end direct-to-consumer e-commerce solution called THG Ingenuity, which has recently secured beauty brands including Burt’s Bees, Elemis, PZ Cussons and Revolution beauty as clients.

This diversified approach helped the Manchester-based group reach sales of £1.1 billion in 2019, up by 24% on the previous year. Group sales have been growing at a CAGR of 31% over the past three years.

The Hut Group makes stellar stock market debut

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