The Hut Group owner surrenders golden share to reassure investors
Moulding will surrender his ‘founder’s share’, which would prevent a hostile takeover of the company as they bid to move its listing to the premium segment of the London Stock Exchange in 2022
Matthew Moulding, the boss and founder of the online beauty, nutrition and technology services group The Hut Group, is set to give up his golden share in the company in a bid to reassure investors.
It was reported that The Hut Group, which floated just over a year ago, will announce next week that it plans to move its listing to the premium segment of the London Stock Exchange in 2022.
Moulding will surrender his ‘founder’s share’, which would prevent a hostile takeover of the company.
The abolition of its dual-class share structure and the prospective shift to a premium LSE listing will be “welcomed by institutional investors”, who saw the value of their holdings take a dive last week.
It is thought that Moulding, THG’s biggest shareholder with a 22% stake, will aim to establish a “more conventional corporate governance structure”.
Sky News said that THG has also been in talks about appointing Andreas Hansson, a senior SoftBank executive, as a non-executive director.
Moulding founded The Hut Group alongside finance chief John Gallemore in 2004, and it now employs over 10,000 people.
His decision to surrender his golden share comes just months after a Treasury-sponsored review led by Lord Hill, the former EU commissioner, recommended that founders of fast-growing companies should be able to retain greater control after listing them through dual-class stock.
THG has declined to comment on the governance changes.