The Hut Group eyeing a £5bn float

The Hut Group, parent of online beauty brands such as Lookfantastic, Illamasqua and Glossy Box as well as online fashion retailer Coggles, has reignited speculation that it is eyeing up a £5bn IPO.

According to The Sunday Times, the fast growing Manchester-based group has been holding meetings with a series of high profile investors, such as Schroders, T Rowe Price and Fidelity, which the report says is a prelude to a float. The highly acquisitive group has been well placed to benefit from the COVID-19 lockdown which forced consumers to shop online and led to a boom in beauty and wellness shopping. Earlier this month it reported that its sales had exceeded £1bn in the year to 31 December 2019. EBITDA for the year hit £111m. 

Over the past decade founder Matthew Moulding has grown the group through a series of acquisitions and through white labelling its technology to other beauty brands, through its THG Ingenuity division. Last week it signed deals with Elemis, PZ Cussons Beauty, Burt’s Bees, Nuxe, By Terry and Revolution Beauty to power their direct to consumer strategies. The £100m partnerships add to names such as Nestlé and Procter & Gamble in the THG Ingenuity portfolio.

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