DealsRetail

eCommerce giant The Hut Group has confirmed that a stock market flotation which could value the company at £4.5 billion will take place this month. 

The company plans to openly list at least 20% of its stock, using a fixed offer price.  

It said it had already allocated £565m of shares to cornerstone investors at the fixed price: £300m from BlackRock, £100m from Henderson Global Investors, £90m from Merian Global Investors and £75m from Qatar Investment Authority. 

The group expects the IPO to raise gross proceeds of around £920m and plans to expand its business as the popularity of eCommerce continues to boom, offering third-party logistics and infrastructure. 

The Manchester-based group’s lifestyle brands include sports nutrition firm Myprotein and makeup lines Lookfantasic and Illamasq, which it acquired in 2015. 

It also sells third-party branded products such as those made by Glossybox and LookFantastic, Lego and Levi’s through its websites. 

Last year the firm reported revenue of £1.1bn, up 24.5% year-on-year. 

If it goes ahead, the share sale would be the largest in London this year, during a 19% dip in IPOs during the first half of the year. 

The firm, which was founded in 2004 as a white label eCommerce platform, was powering the online sites of Asda, Tesco and Zavvi within its first year. 

“THG has enjoyed strong growth since being founded in 2004, employing more than 7,000 people and establishing a track record of consistent delivery for our customers,” THG Chief Executive and co-founder Matthew Moulding told Reuters last week.