Hut Group confirms September float and a £4.5 billion price tag

Online retailer The Hut Group today confirmed plans for a £4.5 billion listing on the London Stock Exchange.

The company, which was founded in 2004, will look to raise £920 million from an IPO set for this month as it looks to tap into investor appetite for the sector following the pandemic

The Hut Group already has £565 million in funds confirmed with fund managers and wealth funds BlackRock, Henderson, Merian and Qatar Investment Authority all signed up.

The fashion firm has rapidly expanded as shoppers increasingly turn online for health and lifestyle brands, with around 7,000 staff now employed by the Manchester-based group.

In 2019, the company saw revenues jump by 24.5% year-on-year to £1.1 billion, with earnings of £111.3 million.

The listing is to be one of the first major floats in London after the coronavirus pandemic halted the recovering IPO market.

Hut has employed a string of bankers to work on the deal, including Citigroup, JP Morgan, Barclays and Goldman Sachs.

The listing that could put the online retailer’s founder in line for one of the largest windfalls in corporate history.

Matthew Moulding, 48, will be awarded shares worth about £700 million if the company’s valuation reaches £7.25 billion in the next two years as part of an incentive scheme.

Moulding owns a 20% stake.