- Strategic 10-year partnership with Maximo
- Deal to add £150m in gross merchandising volumes
- Activist Kelso increases shareholding
Shares in e-commerce brand platform provider THG (THG) were given a 6% boost on Thursday after the company announced a 10-year strategic partnership with beauty e-commerce retailer Maximo group.
Year to date the shares have seen something of a resurgence gaining 46%, but they remain around a third lower compared with the same period a year ago.
Maximo is home to destination sites including allbeauty.com and fragrancedirect.co.uk, and the partnership will start with re-platforming the brands onto the Ingenuity platform.
Ingenuity will also become Maximo’s key operational partner providing warehouse and fulfilment services from the second quarter of 2023.
WHAT IS THE COMPANY SAYING?
Chief executive Matthew Moulding commented: ‘This represents the early fruits of our focus on larger enterprise customers and underlines our position as the online partner of choice for the prestige beauty industry.
‘Our unique end-to-end global multichannel solution means our addressable market across beauty, FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) and retail is significant and will continue to expand as a result of our continuous programme of innovation.’
The partnership covers a spectrum of services including website design and build, hosting and maintenance through to end-customer delivery which will be executed via THG’s network of global couriers.
The strategic partnership is expected to add more than £150 million of annual gross merchandising volume to Ingenuity’s platform.
ACTIVIST BUYS MORE SHARES
Investment company Kelso (KLSO:AIM) increased its holding in THG on 30 March after buying a further 2.4 million shares, taking its beneficial interest to 7.4 million shares representing 0.7% of THG’s outstanding shares.
Kelso said it has continued its analysis into THG including visiting the firm’s operations in Manchester and Warrington. The company said: ‘We believe 2023 will be a positive year for THG as many of the operational headwinds experienced during 2022 continue to reverse.’
The activist is urging THG to move to a Premium stock market listing and to provide better visibility on operational performance including segmental analysis which shows divisional contributions to profitability.
Further demands include THG undertaking a share repurchase programme and improving relations and communications with the investment community.
