Member Info for onsolidground

Been topping up monthly.

Sub 52p with 2 Active Investors involved.

Holding for that capital event.

The timing of Sparta onboarding lets those that wish sink the remainder of this years ISA allowance and come April then next years allowance starts. Gets you round next years lowered CGT allowance should any capital events land here.

"Suggests KLSO are also about to communicate with THG"

I think the first thing that will happen Monday is all those who opened a spreadbet for the price to fall will have to buy back or raise the margin on their account substantially going forward. Activist Investors normally arrive (and flag up deep value) to Hedge Funds. Wood Group a relevant example. Secondly those who were maybe trying to trade the recent falls for a cheaper re-entry price are now at danger of being left behind.

Then you will have buyers and Tuill I expect to attract Institutional buying behind their disclosure and any RNS.

It's extremely brave and in my view silly to now try and keep selling shares short into the market. Not only are KLSO and Tuil and Sparta Capital Management onboard but there is noticeable increase in communication and there are also too many short term catalysts imminent, several and which have been alluded to in the last few days. I list them all on the Kelso Bulletin Board as it is far quieter. Not a ramp but its an easier reference point. (GOAT deal into India still to be added).

Prima!! Now we are talking.

Formidable Frank onboard. I must admit that I did think (and say) recent falls provided the opportunity for either Sparta or Palliser to onboard . If I've learnt one thing in many years of investing it is to trust most if not all that Ben Harrington puts his name to. He has had an excellent track record in being correct where city rumour and gossip is concerned with Mergers and Acquisitions.

Suddenly makes both the THG share price and that of KLSO, the other Active Investor look very cheap in view of recent falls.

Tuill and Sparta took equivalent of an over 3% stake in Wood Group seeing it also as undervalued then they published a very public letter to the Board telling / encouraging them to buy back their own shares or they would be taken over. 3 months later up pops a recent bid from Private Equity which has been improved several times and was still ongoing last time I looked. Dyor

Precursor to a Capital event imho.

After a Betaville rumour earlier in the week stating that either Sparta Capital Management or Paliser were looking to also build an Active Investor stake in THG the Sunday Times has published an article this evening confirming that Sparta Capital Management have indeed built a stake. This Active Investor fund is led by Frank Tuill who ex Elliot Partners and a feared activist investor. Suggests also are about to communicate with THG.

Own research earlier in the week showed that Tuill got onboard through Sparta Capital Management at Wood Group with over 3% and then wrote a very public letter to the Board suggesting they buy their own shares or they'd be taken over. 3 months later a Bid appeared which has been improved on several times and is still ongoing.

Article is behind a paywall but somebody has copy pasted the gist of it on the THG Bulletin Board. The rest you can find yourself.

Maybe not so long to wait for a big payday now with 2 onboard.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/activist-investors-take-thg-stake-and-pile-pressure-on-matt-moulding-0xh9wtdvm

Thanks 1pencil for those keypoints and reminding us that the New Jersey facility is one of those specifically listed to help secure the extra £1Billion GMV in the year ahead. Probably a fair chunk of that.

It would be nice to get some form of coordinated announcement on this re communicating it to the media when it goes live and that might be where Greg Feehely (Senior VP Investor Relation and Kate Grimoldy (Director of Investor Relations and Strategic projects) might both come in. Both have only recently been appointed into their roles in March.

Being as it is the other side of the Atlantic I think all would appreciate some form of updating that New Jersey is live also maybe some appreciation of the size of the facility and opportunity it presents. Could be in the form of any Promotional literature they might use to attract customers or a short video on the THG website or Youtube. Maybe worth mentioning to IR if not in hand. There was a recent Linkedin post off a THG staff member hinting they had been to New Jersey although uncertain if this was THG's own facility or another Autostore premises.

""Great trip to New Jersey. Onboarding of another Autostore underway, this time being deployed with our own software to instruct the robots and drive efficiency. Going live soon.....
Now onto Kentucky."

Doorstep to some big population zones in the US including NY City. Matt Mouldings comments

"AutoStore build all the robots that operate at our Tech Campus in Manchester, giving us the capability to despatch c£2bn of Beauty Sales from just one 500,000 sq ft facility. We have a second AutoStore site in build in New Jersey, USA, and expect to be live by the end of March 2023.

The partnership between AutoStore and THG Ingenuity is very simple. To date, AutoStore would produce all the hardware and robots for customers seeking to automate their distribution. They would then recommend 3rd party firms to provide the necessary software to talk with the robots and the warehouse systems. Typically this would require 3 or more software solutions from different companies in order to get the automation live. This was not only costly to achieve, given the number of parties involved, but creates complexity and risk in trying to get multiple solutions to work.

At THG, we’ve built within the Ingenuity platform all the necessary software solutions to talk with the AutoStore robots, removing the need for 3rd party providers. This reduces the time to onboard new clients, as well as costs for all involved.

Under the AutoStore x THG Ingenuity global distribution partnership, customers buying their robot systems will now be offered one simple “plug and play” solution. AutoStore provide the robots, THG provides the software, and it’s all handled under the new Autostore pay-per-pick model banner.

THG is paid a fee for each product picked by the AutoStore robots using the solution. So we will be hoping that, one day, billions of products are picked across the world each week using AutoStore x THG Ingenuity technology robots!

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/andywoodbiz_thg-thehutgroup-autostore-activity-7032419039008202753-gRrA

Comments were from Matt Moulding on Linkedin.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/andywoodbiz_thg-thehutgroup-autostore-activity-7032419039008202753-gRrA

AutoStore build all the robots that operate at our Tech Campus in Manchester, giving us the capability to despatch c£2bn of Beauty Sales from just one 500,000 sq ft facility. We have a second AutoStore site in build in New Jersey, USA, and expect to be live by the end of March 2023.

The partnership between AutoStore and THG Ingenuity is very simple. To date, AutoStore would produce all the hardware and robots for customers seeking to automate their distribution. They would then recommend 3rd party firms to provide the necessary software to talk with the robots and the warehouse systems. Typically this would require 3 or more software solutions from different companies in order to get the automation live. This was not only costly to achieve, given the number of parties involved, but creates complexity and risk in trying to get multiple solutions to work.

At THG, we’ve built within the Ingenuity platform all the necessary software solutions to talk with the AutoStore robots, removing the need for 3rd party providers. This reduces the time to onboard new clients, as well as costs for all involved.

Under the AutoStore x THG Ingenuity global distribution partnership, customers buying their robot systems will now be offered one simple “plug and play” solution. AutoStore provide the robots, THG provides the software, and it’s all handled under the new Autostore pay-per-pick model banner.

THG is paid a fee for each product picked by the AutoStore robots using the solution. So we will be hoping that, one day, billions of products are picked across the world each week using AutoStore x THG Ingenuity technology robots!

If your plan was to reinvest it then the market and market makers have done you a favour and its just a case of you picking your moment. Was 196p or thereabouts when the 7p dividend was announced. That's some ex-dividend hit.

I get the rationale that being a retail bank makes them more prone to turbulence in unsettled markets but the likes of Metro Bank (MTRO) and One Savings Bank (OSB) don't seem to be taking the same hits.

Just got back from my local Iceland with next weeks MyProtein meals for the family gym buff. Nice to see that the previously reported shortage of Chicken skewers has now remedied itself with both types available. Good seller those ones and all seem to be selling very well from constantly changing stock levels in the freezers.

Two rows have also been lined up and identified already with £4.00 tickets on them for the Meat Feast and Chicken Curry Pizzas. Only 11 more sleeps.

Rather than fretting or wingeing over the share price maybe treat yourself and contribute to THG revenue and profitability of Beauty and Nutrition. Either that or sell up and move on. The business of selling products, expanding and adding new customers continues daily irrespective of who manipulates the share price.

This has been proving nice and lucrative time and time again for whoever keeps taking the share price down and then raising it again into the 70's. Fortunately we have all had the benefit of unprecedented business updates, not much of which is again reflecting in the share price.

Have a nice weekend.

Looks like the panic seems to be over.

Both the Dow and Nasdaq well up tonight.

Seems to be a consistent and definite message being conveyed that Central Banks are prepared to step should it be necessary.

Here in the UK, UK Banks have been stress tested many times over.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2023/03/15/credit-suisse-turmoil-swiss-central-bank-will-support-troubled-bank-if-necessary/?sh=55766fdb7619

Dow recovered half its losses from where it was at UK close and Nasdaq has finished blue. Makes for an interesting start and day tomorrow. Hopefully Sparta or Paliser or both took advantage.

Identified a few for top ups and buy ins tomorrow if things start slowly.

That's been the case with UK Banks.

Any excuse taken to knock markets to rinse repeat.

Pick your entry point here and on several other UK banks imho

Well if they are then they are losing money for it looks like somebody is still there picking up large swathes when they are there. I hope the sell algo's aren't programmed to notice such large contrarian buys. Though you would expect them to be. That way the likes of Sparta or Paliser, if the rumours are correct, get to accumulate all they wish and then we get an RNS.

Another nice top up on the dip for someone imo. 1.2 Million this time.

2023-03-15 09:33:00 60.10 1,200,000 £721,200

Sparta Capital Management probably sat there waiting for 60p Offer or anything less.