Matthew Moulding’s The Hut Group (THG) is raising US$1bn in fresh capital to accelerate the business’ ‘ambitious’ growth plans.
The largest sum will consist of around $730m, and comes from SB Management (SBM), a subsidiary of tech investor SoftBank Group, with the remainder coming from other stakeholders.
SBM is also expected to invest $1.6bn in THG Ingenuity, the company’s direct-to-consumer tech platform, which implies an enterprise value of $6.3bn for a 19.9% equity interest.
“We are delighted to announce this financial and trading partnership opportunity with SoftBank, one of the world’s leading technology investors, recognising both the capability and inherent value of our proprietary technology platforms, Ingenuity,” said Moulding.
“The trading partnership opportunity is particularly exciting, providing Ingenuity with an unparalleled global growth opportunity.
“The capital raise will provide meaningful capital to accelerate our strategic growth ambitions across our whole business.”
THG has also announced a takeover of Bentley Laboratories, a prestige beauty developer and manufacturer, for $255m, subject to regulatory approval.
This acquisition is expected to boost THG’s fiscal year 2020 revenues by $15m.
“The acquisition of Bentley materially increases our capability in beauty manufacturing and product development, and strengthens our position as the leading digital beauty business globally,” added Moulding.
