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I said no "hostile" bids

Matthew Moulding gives away THG shares
Emma Powell
Friday July 29 2022, 9.00am, The Times
Moulding, head of the online retailer THG, has handed the shares to friends
Moulding, head of the online retailer THG, has handed the shares to friends
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The co-founder and boss of THG, the beleaguered online retailer, has bought and mostly given away shares worth £800,000 in the group to friends.

None of those gifted shares were “persons closely associated” with Matthew Moulding, a legal definition that includes spouses and relatives that have lived in the same household for a year.

Shares in THG are trading at a record low of 67p, having fallen 71 per cent since the start of this year. Shortly after its listing in 2020, THG’s shares almost hit 800p as investors cheered its online growth during the pandemic.

This week the online retailer announced that an agreement with Softbank for the Japanese company to purchase a stake of up to $1.6 billion in THG’s technology division had been terminated “in light of global macroeconomic conditions”. The slump in THG’s share price means the group’s entire market value is less than SoftBank had agreed to pay for a fifth of one of its divisions.

Moulding has a stake of about 22 per cent in THG, and a “golden share”, which he has said he will surrender once the group makes its promised move to a premium listing on the main market.

The company was founded by Moulding, 50, and John Gallemore, 53, as an online CD and DVD retailer. It has been transformed into a beauty and nutrition business with 300 websites and 10,000 staff. The company reported an operating loss of £137 million last year.

At the moment, its a dead cat bounce.
We need IR to do something, anything, to give it a bit of momentum.
A few up days and people will start to take note, the tide has changed, etc.
May even force a PE bidder to stop sitting on their hands, for fear of missing a bargain.

What could happen is MM sells the beauty division for 800m, We'll then be left with the rest of the businesses for zero, with 500m cash.
Not a bad position to be in.

If this closes above 70.5, we'll be up on the week. would have been unthinkable midweek. When I was at my most depressed. You might have noticed :)
I have just bought more. The first time Ive averaged since 85p. Paid 70p
GLA

Strangled. There can not be a hostile bid, whilst MM has the golden share.
How many more times????

Moulding is giving away money to people he hardly knows, apparently

Form an orderly queue


Bryce Elder 4 MINUTES AGO

It’s another average day in the gonzo world of Matthew John Moulding:

THG PLC (the “Company“) announces that it was notified on 27 July 2022 of the purchase by Matthew Moulding, the chief executive officer of the Company, of 1,169,000 ordinary voting shares of £0.005 each (“Ordinary Shares“) at a price of 70.2287 pence per ordinary share.

Matthew Moulding immediately gifted 1,169,000 Ordinary Shares to various friends, none of whom are classified as persons closely associated with Matthew Moulding, for nil consideration.
And sure, why not. Why shouldn’t THG’s founder, CEO and 22 per cent golden shareholder buy ~£800,000 of shares then give them to “various friends”, with whom he’s not “closely associated”. This might seem unorthodox but is definitely not illegal. To be clear.

Largesse to acquaintances is just one of the curiosities in Moulding’s week so far.

70 trades!!!!

I was told last night, by a large sb co., that there is still a huge amount of "hot money" still invested in THG, left over from the Candy bid, etc.
All losing money, obviously.
This explains why the sp is so weak on bad days, margin calls, forced selling, etc.
Also, possibly explains why we are so sluggish on good days.
Up 2% now though!

Unhooked
I spotted that, decided to let it go :)

What have i said that isnt factual?

Steve.
MM is not going for a premium listing. More accountability, give up golden share. Its not happening!
Dreadful performance today, ASOS up 4%, Nasdaq up 4%, BOO up 4%. We cant hold 1%, the day after director buys.

Steve
You can blame the bots all you like. THG have no buyers.
Other than 2 directors.
Blame the IR

Its quite concerning that there is not one director buy. They watch the sp very closely, yet not one has decided that it is cheap. Even at this level.
I’m hoping that the chairman chatted to the dept. heads before he bought, and decided that things were going well. I’m hoping it wasn’t a vanity purchase.

The market clearly was anticipating this. That’s why we’ve been so weak the last few days. All selling done. Maybe a few bear closers. So should probably rally from here. Famous last words. What we really need is IR to make a few unofficial calls to big IIs. That’s their job. People need a positive story in order to push the buy button.

They?

Adamsk.
I am very consistent. I only ever make a few points. Management have no regard for shareholders. IR are possibly the worst I’ve come across. The Uber bulls, who ignore reality and blame the sp on manipulation, conspiracy theories, etc. should be called out.
These are my main bugbears.

2phevs.
I admire your positivity.
NASDAQ’s up. Ftse’s up. We are down. After a huge collapse, we can’t even rally 0.5p.
There is no mbo. The management run the company as if it were private. With no shareholder accountability.
With regards to your buy, sell, size, analysis. The price rises when there are more buyers than sellers (in terms of volume). Simples. Everything else is flim flam.

ASOS up 5.5%
BOO up 3.4%
OCDO up 2.7%
I know this seems a ridiculous question, wtf is going on?
I'm not a believer in sp manipulation theories, bots, etc.
Ultimately, the price goes up if there are more buyers than sellers and vice versa.
Who would sell down here? the company is clearly not in trouble, chairman's purchase.
Does anyone have a theory?

Its disgraceful that MM didnt open the books.
How could the buyers proceed on that basis? How could they be expected to make a higher "fairer" offer if they werent allowed to do dd?
It certainly isnt acting in shareholders best interest, only his own!