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It just goes to show that THG is a sitting duck for a takeover with current valuations that companies are willing to pay . It is nowhere near fair value and with the takeover premiums being achieved it would imply a price for THG of over 150.

Why would MM buy 24m shares at circa 35p if he wanted to crash the share price! Markets take director buying as a positive not a negative and let's face it 24m shares isn't small change. He turned down the Selkirk offer for Myprotein which valued the company at up to £600m so he couldn't offer less than that.

THG is in the best position it's been in for a long time. Debt has been greatly reduced and could be reduced further if the VAT claim is successful, revenue is picking up, golden share has gone and Myprotein in particular has done deals with the likes of Grencore and Mars. The Claremont sale goes to show that there is a lot of value within the company. This has been heavily shorted and those shorts will have to buy back at some point and probably before the VAT update.

Stanley - It's not just about the payout. Going forward they wont be paying VAT on those products.

THG's borrowing has been a major problem and a drag from preventing PAT. Roughly two years ago debt was £563m. If the VAT reclaim is successful this will fall to £110-130m. If they had another asset sale then this could easily put THG into a net cash position. So looking forward it's feasible that THG will be in a position to pay dividends as they wont be paying colossal amounts of interest. It seems the market hasn't woken up to this fact and they continue to look in the rear view mirror.

If MM can put THG into a positive cash territory from being £563m in debt just a few years ago perhaps the city will take a different view and give THG a valuation it deserves which is multiples of the current price.

Another positive amongst all the short doom mongers is that THG fulfil has increased its sortation capacity increasing at one facility from 250,000 to 625,000 units per day. The company said the increased automation has reduced labor requirements, with a decrease equivalent to 45 full-time roles. I think it's MM's plan to build volume and use economies of scale. Then the profits will come.

It's good to see Myprotein is teaming with Champion for a new limited-edition training collection. They are really increasing the sport fitness activewear now which accounts for around 12% of Myprotein’s online sales. All these collaborations have to be good to promote brand awareness.

If THG are successful with regards to the VAT reclaim and debt falls to £130m or below they could sell off a number of subsidiaries like ESPA or Chrsitophe Robin which would clear this. Then you would be left with a leading sports nutrition brand and a world wide beauty company for £500m at the current mkt. They have removed the golden share, separated Ingenuity, sold Claremont for a decent profit, reduced debt and built up the brands yet the share price has fallen. The market will wake up and some point and follow MM by buying. This should be double the current price and if takeovers happen then multiples.

If the VAT outcome goes in THG's favour, it's not just about the payout but going forward not having to pay VAT on those items saving circa £15m pa. If debt goes down to less than £140m that's pretty impressive. Surely some of the larger funds will be buying given Huel's and APN's valuations. I will be adding today.

I agree CheshireLad. If MP was sold I don't think it would take long for the beauty division to be snapped up. There is a lot of value in THG and the only reason we are at these levels is because of MM. Perversely enough the hedge funds are playing right into his hands as they have given him the opportunity to buy more shares on the cheap. MM will have the last laugh, I just hope that us shareholders will have something to cheer about too as it's been horrendous up until now.

At least this deal gives an idea of the sort of values which are attainable. It just goes to show that Selkirks bid of between £4400-600m was way under and they have since done deals with the likes of Mars and Greencore. Value will out for the patient.

MM could get the Ingenuity share price above £3.00 when the Google investment occurs and offer 2 shares in THG for 1 in Ingenuity or a cash offer of say £1.5. I reckon he must have a 3-5 year plan of a US listing and the market cap will be in the £BN's rather than £100m's. I don't think MM is stupid and I think he wants to be in the billionaire club with his mate MA. I could be wrong but MM has shown little compassion for his shareholders considering the massive value destruction over the years. Most self respecting people would have resigned but it would appear that he wants to make as much money for himself and his inner circle.

I would have 70p at the very bottom but if MM and his crew took paper in Ingenuity and only had to pay 30% of shareholders the buyout price could be much higher.

I wouldn't be surprised if MM takes THG private via a reverse takeover from Ingenuity. He and a few of his followers could manipulate the share price to increase their holdings and once MM's group have circa 70% they will buy the rest out for a cash offer of 70p plus. It will probably coincide when Goggle invest in Ingenuity. Then the margins will be increased raising profits into the hundreds of millions and then after a few years he lists the company in the US for multiples of the current market cap and he retires. MM has blamed the city, press and hedge funds but he will end up victorious.

If this comes to fruition, expect a TR1 from MA in the coming months.

Yes I agree, it's about time he did something for shareholders. Initially I thought that if THG was successful with regards to the VAT claim they should pay down debt but now I'm thinking they should use the lot to purchase shares and improve the share price. Surely MM will want to give the hedge funds a kicking as they have made him look stupid. That's the action Darktrace took and it ended well for them as hedge funds mainly from The US were shorting it for a cheap takeover. The takeover eventually happened but at a higher price than they wanted to pay. I reckon this has been sold down probably with a US PE orchestrating it for the same outcome.

It's called averaging down Rob.

The buying is probably by the manipulators shorting THG. MM must have some idea who they are for all we know they may even be connected to him.

If they are twisting the narrative to inflict pain to the point that investors sell then surely this makes the case for an IR department that responds to shareholders. I have invested in this company for a number of years and like Crowman I have in excess of 1m shares and a large holding in Ingenuity.

With respect Crafty shareholders would have been far better off being able to sell their shares for £1.70 a few years ago rather than waiting for 60p.

Perhaps if MM makes a bid of 70p I'm sure many would take it as they have been beaten up enough and would want a morsel of jam now rather than waiting for the pot down the yellow brick road which the lion has already eaten.

I agree with what you are saying Onsolidground but the share price has been manipulated and I expect some interest from a third party. Like you say THG could probably sell Bentley for perhaps half the current mkt cap as I have stated before on here. In fact the US beauty division alone would be worth more than the current EV. Obviously MM knows the price is ridiculously cheap hence him buying another chunk. The problem is that although we know it's undervalued the city distrust MM hence the reason why they don't invest. MM has three options, to resign and get a new CEO and Chairman, Prove the city wrong and make some decent profits or to sell the company. I think shareholders deserve better.

I think MM knows the vultures will start circling for a takeover soon enough. The share price was knocked down a few years ago to these levels for then Apollo to enter the fray. In many ways THG is in a better position and MM doesn't have the golden share now. No doubt MM will pick up another tranche of shares in the coming weeks. He will be praying that the VAT outcome goes in his favour sooner rather than later so the company has money for a share buyback.

Any takeover will most probably be hostile as they won't engage with MM especially now he doesn't have the golden share.

I'm still bullish for THG but I think it's time for a new CEO. Investor relations at THG are non existent, in fact THG is the first company in all my years of investing who fail to respond to my communication. It's not very professional and shows a lack of concern for their shareholders which is arrogant.

I wouldn't be surprised if MM increases his stake to just below 30% and then makes a bid. Hopefully for shareholders we get a white knight.

It looks as though the investors have lost patience with MM. In most other ftse 250 companies the ceo would have resigned with such a poor share price performance but MM thinks he is running a private company and refuses to leave. He has expressed before that he was considering taking THG private, surely he must be thinking that this is a good time to do it where the share price is. I doubt he would offer more than 60p which would be a bit of a joke after turning down 170p.