On Wednesday morning,听eCommerce giant The Hut Group made a spectacular debut on the London Stock Exchange.听
After early trading, media headlines trumpeted that it was the听biggest stock market debut since听Royal Mail in听2013听and had raised听拢1.88听billion, valuing听the Manchester firm听at 拢5.4bn.听
It was the听largest听ever听eCommerce listing in Europe, by capital raised, ahead of AO World听(拢487m) and Zalando听(拢411m) in 2014.听It was also the second-largest tech IPO in London after Worldpay (拢2.5bn) in 2015.听
Based on market capitalisation of company at listing,听it was the largest tech IPO seen in London.听
The share price, which at one point hit 658p听鈥� valuing THG at 拢7.1bn听鈥�听has听stabilised at around 620p, far ahead of the听offer price of 500p.听
Cornerstone investors ahead of the public listing included VC heavyweights听BlackRock, Henderson Global Investors, Merian Global Investors and Qatar Investment Authority.听
They were impressed by THG鈥檚 white label 鈥榚nd-to-end’ eCommerce solution, which powers听the online logistics of听Johnson & Johnson, Coca-Cola, Nestle, Procter & Gamble and Walgreens Boots Alliance, among others, and includes听trading, marketing and brand strategy services.听
It also has its听own听lifestyle brands听–听sports听nutrition firm听Myprotein听and makeup lines听Lookfantasic听and听Illamasq听– and听sells third-party branded products such as those made by听Glossybox听and听LookFantastic, Lego and Levi’s through its websites.听Last year the firm reported revenue of 拢1.1bn, up 24.5% year-on-year.听
Between them, THG’s existing shareholders听made an estimated 拢961m by selling down their stakes, with co-founder, CEO and chairman Matthew Moulding听raking in 拢54m and now officially a billionaire thanks to his retained stake.听
According to a Sky News report,听he is reinvesting that 拢54m 鈥�as part of a restructuring of the group’s property portfolio that will see him become its landlord鈥�.听
Wednesday was an especially听good day for the city, with an array of听bankers, brokers and听advisers听who worked on the IPO听sharing听an estimated 拢50m in fees.听
The successful THG float came against a backdrop of just nine IPOs in the听COVID-19-affected听first half of 2020, which raised only 拢666m between them.听
That compared with听拢3.2bn for the whole of 2019 鈥� and that year was the worst听for stock market flotations in a decade, with just 35 taking place.听
Tech is the听fourth largest sector on听the LSE, representing around 11% of the total market capitalisation of listed companies. That has听almost quadrupled听in size over the last听five听years.听
IPO