Well, SB Management is a division of the Japanese tech giant SoftBank which is all set to make an investment of $16 billion on the startup technology division of British e-commerce start-up THG.
The announcement of this deal was made to THG shareholders on Monday. They will be providing SBM19.9% of THG Ingenuity. Notably, the value of THG Ingenuity is around $6.3 billion that is roughly what the partner firm was valued as soon it floated on the London Stock Exchange in the last year.
Well-known as The Hut Group, THG even owned several online beauties and nutrition brands like Lookfantastic, Mankind, and Myprotein. Additionally, it also sells its e-commerce software to the companies that involve Unilever.
The billionaire founder of THG, Mathew Goulding even described THG Ingenuity on a media call as a “social media influencer platform” for promoting products as per The Guardian. Also, it involves brands that sell off by the other companies. Also, Goulding added that SoftBank’s investments have provided THG Ingenuity “With an unparalleled global growth opportunity.”
Moreover, it was founded in 2004 and its headquarter is in the Manchester Airport. Also, THG mentioned in a statement, “THG Ingenuity is a yet-to-be-formed, THG owned and controlled subsidiary group, comprising the Ingenuity platform IP and operating trade and assets.”
It even added: “To effect the SBM investment, THG Ingenuity will be required to be a separate legal entity capable of receiving the investment and this process has already commenced.”
THG said, “it believes that a separation of its key businesses will maximize shareholder value.”
Well, the spokesperson for THG elaborated Ingenuity as a platform that “powers” the company’s own brands, as well as those of third-party clients. They even said it specifically providing “digital services, including hosting, studio content, translation services, and beauty product development and manufacturing.”
SoftBank to purchased THG shares
SBM is also taking a $730 million stake in THG itself, which is raising $1 billion in fresh impartiality to boost its universal expansion efforts.
The investment will provide Masayoshi Son’s company, which has even invested in the likes of Uber, Slack, and WeWork, roughly 10% of THG.
In 2020, THG’s sales climbed more than 40% to £1.6 billion ($2.3 billion). But, it still recorded a pre-tax loss of £535 million.
The company also publicized on Monday that it will obtain New Jersey-headquartered beauty product manufacturer Bentley Laboratories for $255 million. It believed the acquisition will enhancement revenues by $77 million next year.
Goulding said, “The acquisition of Bentley materially increases our capability in beauty manufacturing and product development.”
However, the shares of THG, which is valued at around £6 billion, soared 14% on the back of the news to over £7 per share on Tuesday.
