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£5 Billion figure being mentioned by The Telegraph. Right on the eve of the Dorneywood summit.

That will be about 4 Bids in the last week from Private Equity and overseas interests and with Middle Eastern monies now coming forth.

Maybe there's hope for THG yet.

Excellent. 2 important votes in as many weeks and the opportunity to vote firstly in the interests of my shareholding showing a decent return on my investment in the short to medium term (2 years have been spurned already) and also to vote on how the last several years has impacted my living standards and who presents the best future prospects.

Got to be odds on now that there will be an interest rate cut at the next BofE Monetary Policy Committee Meeting in June and Sunak looks to be trying to ride the wave. He'll know whats coming.

As for here @THG imho it needs a "head cruncher" of a new Chairperson who can take overall charge, hold Senior Execs to account and take them to task for underperformance, refresh strategy and establish KPI's that align with the share price.

It's that big LSE Reform meeting with the Chancellor tomorrow unless todays announcement altered things and I wonder if Lord Allen, Matt Moulding or City AM will have any involvement. You would think its the perfect forum to get your message across.

Breaking. Sky News understands July 4th General Election.

Its a nice Ex Div of 4.5p on the 30th May. Hard to beat anywhere else for a couple of days holding.

The long side at MW could well be working things down to bank the dividend. The short side margins it down so their long side picks it up. All hidden behind it being 3% to disclose a long position.

Sangijuelas1 Ocado have been quite clear that should the MKS payment not satisfy (and they think they are on good grounds) then a court can decide. Those venues have uncertain outcomes even for the best of cases and costs and the only real winners are the lawyers and silks.

My guess is that a settlement will reached. Ocado pulls the plug or a court decides they can annul things also and that's a big dent in M+S's rising food sales.

To 1.4p for a sell of my traders off a 1.16p purchase. Not greedy and happy with that.

Core holding still intact.

Insightful post and thanks for posting.

Present regime isn't delivering on shareholder value despite 2 or is it 4 years so change is needed. 4 Bids declined and several years on a share price a fraction of those Bids personally I'm grateful that Kelso have thrown down the gauntlet and highlighted the present deficiencies.

I suspect it will be an uncomfortable AGM if the share price remains around this level so we should hopefully see some news between now and any AGM statement as there was last year.

Inflation also now a hair breadths away from target so the question has to be will the BoE take the initiative and cut interest rates. High interest rates in themselves must in part be directly feeding into higher costs for business and higher cost of living pressures by pushing prices up the costs to service debt (e.g Business loans feeding through to prices, Landlords cost feeding through into Rent rises).

You never know Starfighter with any voting how things could turn out.

Last years AGM for instance had a near 24% vote against Iain Mac's re-election and that was without any Kelso's activist involvement and announcing their voting intention. Then of course the debacle where they tried to retain his services on the Board that damaged the share price - then ultimately he ended up biting the bullet by March.

Kelso I honestly can't see giving up if it ends up as bloody nose vote or indeed even with a removal. They want to unlock that Sum of Parts valuation. Why some seemingly don't want to unlock that value is beyond me and is actually why we are where we are.

For me, in TGL's absence the running of this company and execution has been down to the CEO and COO and that's why I will be voting against them also. (Poor share price performance, Bids without bid prices to sustain rises to that price, Good share price accretive advice binned, Continual LSE rants, "Stunt" comments to date on seperate listings, MBO etc with no follow through, Non existent Investor Relations, etc etc etc

That's why its important that people actually do give careful consideration to all resolutions and vote accordingly rather than just rubber stamping every resolution.

Starfighter, approximately 1 month ago and just after Q1 results presentation you posted the below comments which I thought were a fair assessment at the time and with the benefit of hindsight you seem to have been almost right in one predicted course.

"Starfighter

Posted in: THG

Posts: 43

Price: 63.90

No Opinion

Groundhog Day24 Apr 2024 10:10

It was much like previous presentations although in fairness to the CEO. I thought he did ok on the Q & A.

The SP does not improve on the jam tomorrow forward forecasting of a CEO who;

1. Plays silly games with last minute announcements which makes him look childish and just reinforces the perception that he is not cut out for the role making the company uninvestable.

2. Doesn’t take responsibility for the SP or oft poor numbers and engages in diversionary tactics to explain the exceptionally poor SP (shorts, Yen etc).

3. Has missed targets and projections so often that any future targets and projections are dismissed and therefore never lead to a positive sustained share price increase.

4. Refuses to provide a strategic update and allows a chairman to go missing.

The only ways out of this hole are to trade out and deliver positive numbers year on year and deliver profits or through a takeover. The latter won’t happen because the CEO and his mates control the shares and solidify their control through unjustified dilution.

The former will take years to achieve but is dependent on the removal of this CEO and the in office, but invisible, chairman.

This company is being held back by its CEO, he needs to resign and make way for a seasoned, mature and capable CEO with a track record of delivering good numbers, profits and a strong sustainable SP.

Until that happens, it will remain Groundhog Day for the company and its long suffering long term holders."

Just an associated question for you. Given your thoughts above what's your views on Kelso being lenient and kind to one of their own shareholders, albeit supposed Pacman defence shareholder?

Fell free anybody to chip in.

Much higher propensity for decent news now to appease or another bid approach after this mornings RNS.

Possibly an AGM statement as well ahead of the AGM.

The share price is far too low for the present market highs.

The inevitable is that something had to give imho.

Much though they tried to retain him Iain Mac alighted the Board of Directors in the end as his continued presence was toxic to the share price.

These Kelso and Activist Investor RNS's are what genuine PI's actually want for their holdings as they hold the Board to account and scrutinise their every action and words communicated to the market. Whilst at the same time highlighting say Board underperformance as well as share price underperformance.

So today in an instance all RNS recipients have had it broadcast to them that the present THG sp is only about half of what Peel Hunts lower case valuation was (141p) or about 1/4 of its higher valuation of 280p and that despite stated strategy nothing seems to have happened towards that for 4 years. It's simple research thereafter for Private Equity or any other predatory interest and it has to be said the company now is in a position of vulnerability till AGM.

The present BoD have failed to get the share price back up significantly to where it was prior to the Iain Mac debacle and that is despite markets and virtually every other companies share prices being at all time highs. So they only have themselves to blame and the AGM and todays statement remind them that this is a publicly listed company and with invested shareholders.

Incidentally MM may been playing to the crowd with his 95% of all advice given gets binned comments (which I thought was a subtle dig at Kelso) and also in all the deflection and constant blaming of the LSE. Kelso though, undeterred are telling them to quit blaming the LSE and to get their own house in order.

Many permutations possible now. Does TGL bow out gracefully or not. MM's next move. Kelso's next move. Do they canvas and garner further support or had they been doing it already. Do we get sustained newsflow or any of the bigger news now in an attempt to lift the share price and to try and damage limit any bloody noses or people not getting re-elected. Does Private Equity reshow its face again with a bid.

Nice and spicy run in now to the AGM.

They were also a startup from scratch and THG was their very 1st investment and with full logic provided

So much so that not long after they did invest and highlight the valuation gaps and in particular the appeal of Nutrition - then up popped Apollo with a bid.

Sb10000 they have staff, auditors, LSE fees and office overheads to pay and are entitled just like Crafty or any other to topslice if as they see fit. They might be trading it with algo's but you will never know and they don't on paper seem to ever have deviated from a core 5 Million holding which is now up to 6 Million.

Not a time to be selling any I would suggest and Kelso have just publicly drawn attention again to the massive undervaluation at a time when so many companies are receiving Bids and being taken over by private equity or other companies. XP Power this morning the latest with a rejected bid - a named price and share price rise of 50% and to somewhere near the bid price.

Sb1000 if memory serves me correctly Kelso did sell some last year for a very tidy profit whilst still retaining a core holding of 5Million shares which they on paper had retained ever since.

However at their last update I think I commented that they had I believe increased their holding again by a further 1 million shares and were back up to 6 Million shares, which is their largest investment amongst stakes in 4 companies.

From Kelso's RNS this morning. Emphasis on the last line

"On 16 January 2024, THG delivered a strategy update in which it stated that the Group's strategy, as previously set out by the Board in 2021, remained unchanged: "… to provide each division with its own growth and capital platform, through individual public market listings or partnerships, with THG retaining significant majority ownership". Disappointingly, after nearly four years, there has been no demonstrable public progress on this front. The Board of Kelso finds it particularly remiss that there is minimal comment on strategic progress relating to this matter in the Group's recent Annual Report, which spans over 200 pages. Kelso believes that this lack of clarity is a major factor contributing to the poor share price performance and the absence of new declarable shareholders to THG's register in the last eighteen months."

Ironically, over at Science in Sport - Richard Griffiths a High Net Worth individual just announced a 3.78% holding over there this morning. Maker of Phd Nutrition protein bars, snacks and powders if my memory serves me correctly.

Was predictable that one as it sat stagnant for ages at 15.5p and broke out through 16p only the other day. He's probably seeing them as a takeover target for Applied Nutrition's growth post listing on the LSE.

On a plus note Kelso again have just flagged to the market the massive undervaluation in THG

Train Tracks the most MM would ever get at Kelso is a seat on the Board if he crossed 10% and requested it but even with that he would be outnumbered by Kelso Directors in terms of deciding how they conduct their business. He'd be one voice and vote and lets be honest, an 8% holding already hasn't deterred them and can you see him travelling down to London and back for Board Meetings and the like. Say Sparta or another Activist buys back in, would he or even could he do the same for each other one? Improbable imo.

In any case there are simply too many High Net Worth individuals that own Kelso shares for him to ever get anywhere near a 51%. He would also be paying more for each successive chunk and Kelso could further place on a rising share price to dilute him.

Todays RNS from Kelso again draws public attention to the huge valuation gap, lack of action and in my view shows there are easy fixes to adding shareholder value.

Might it prove an opportune time and tempt Private Equity forth again?

Magnum PI if you check out the number of interests that TGL has had to register and disclose as being part of the House of Lords then imo it might help explain why the invisibility. It must also be the best part of a day, or two with an overnighter to keep visiting Manchester for say Board Meetings and might explain why TGL never seems to be present at the Quarterly updates and Analyst meetings when so many other Chairs are. You're ultimately the one in charge.(Obviously the likes of Zoom and Microsoft Teams nowadays can help bridge the gaps where an in person attendance is not required.)

Could somebody like for instance Poppy Gustaffson at Darktrace transition and take on the role if it became vacant? Or who else could be a good candidate?

Kelso are quite clearly pointing out it that THG would be a top FTSE 250 company if premium listed and there wouldn't be any shortage of takers you would think.

By the way and just out of interest TGL was previously ousted at ITV when he was CEO.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2006/aug/09/citynews.television

I said virtually the same thing on several occasions yesterday and it couldn't have been said any better by Kelso. So well done Kelso and as activist shareholders they are making a statement and throwing down a challenge to the present status quo and brilliant they also highlight the blatant valuation gap.

Great though the recent rise has been, the share price is only a fraction of previous bids and it needs a complete change in mindset and or new blood. I mentioned 2 years on and Nothing. They point out it is 4 years on and Nothing and their logic. The Chairman ultimately needs to take the can for the poor share price performance under his auspices.

I will add though that with the invisibility of The Chair, the poor share price performance and so much not being done I had added MM and JG to my votes against re-election, for as CEO and COO they have to be key in what strategy has been adopted and its delivery. The 95% of advice binned Linkedin post being a decision swayer.

Use your votes and use them wisely.

New blood at the top and the addition of so many shareholder value catalysts presently missing in an improving interest rate environment should help close the Sum of Parts valuation gap.

"One day though the SP will not drop and it will rerate to a SOTP figure that will be many multiples of where we are now."

Crafty, Peel Hunt did what was a recent 78 page report on SOTP and it hasn't rerated the price or caused the City to jump onboard and gobble up every available share and get it anywhere near that. So I'm intrigued how you think it will get there and given most share price moving catalysts are being overlooked or binned. This imvho would re-rate tomorrow simply if the right changes were made at the top of THG with the right replacements were brought in and that's why I'll be voting against the re-election of TGL, MM and JG.

In a nutshell, despite spurning legitimate bids at much higher values than present THG is not presently delivering on share holder value, and that's despite 2 years to do so.

Just wondering how you yourself will be voting, that's with those shares that you are not top slicing on?