An investor known in City circles as ‘The Welsh Wizard’ has emerged with a £30million interest in controversial online business THG.
Richard Griffiths’s position can be revealed amid suggestions that private equity firms may be considering bids.
Cashing in?: City sources say founder Matt Moulding (pictured) would support an offer of £2.50 a share for the business, valuing it at around £3billion
Shares in THG, also known as The Hut Group, have been on a rollercoaster ride.
They peaked at more than £8 last year after the company floated on the stock exchange in September 2020.
But the stock fell beneath the initial £5 offer price and has languished since.
THG investors looking for reasons to be cheerful may find heart in Griffiths’s interest, totalling 1.6 per cent of the shares. He is regarded as a City veteran and a savvy investor.
A former sheep farmer and a founder of investment bank Evolution, it was once reported that he conducted his business from the back room of a pub he owns in the Welsh hills.
Griffiths invested in TalkTalk before it was acquired by Toscafund and the telecoms firm’s founder and chairman Sir Charles Dunstone in 2020.
Earlier this month, THG said it had rejected a £2billion – or £1.70- a-share – bid approach from Belerion Capital and King Street Capital. Property mogul Nick Candy has also announced that he may bid for the beauty, make-up and technology giant.
City sources say founder Matt Moulding would support an offer of £2.50 a share for the business, valuing it at around £3billion.
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