The UK's largest web hosting company The Hut Group (THG) is planning to disclose its plan for a new incentive scheme as well as a £4.5bn stock market flotation.
As first reported by Sky News, the long-standing share plan could result in THG's co-founder and executive chairman Matthew Moulding earning more than £700m worth of shares if the company is able to achieve a market capitalization of £7.25bn by December of 2022.
Moulding helped establish THG back in 2004 and in the years since, the company has grown significantly and it now employs 7,000 people in the UK. In addition to web hosting, the e-commerce company also provides VPN services and it has acquired 21 different online retailers and other companies since 2009.
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THG is also a third-party logistics and infrastructure provider through its tech platform THG Ingenuity and the company helps deliver products from some of the world's biggest brands including Johnson & Johnson, Nestle, Procter & Gamble and the Walgreens Boots Alliance.
London Stock Exchange flotation
Sources familiar with the matter who spoke with Sky News say that THG will soon announce its plan to file an intention to float on the London Stock Exchange and that its incentive plan will also be disclosed in its prospectus.
For the massive incentive scheme to pay out though, THG's value after its IPO would have to be uplifted by over 30 percent during a time when investors are hesitant to invest in UK businesses due to Brexit and the pandemic.
The IPO will involve the company selling anywhere between £500m and £900m of new shares to institutional investors. However, people involved in the deal say they have seen demand for shares from potential backers already reaching over £1bn.
According to one source, THG share scheme was put in place three years ago in order to compensate Moulding and other employees for the fact that their stakes in the company were diluted back in 2010 when early investors such as Balderton Capital injected money into the firm.
We'll have to wait and see if the floatation and incentive scheme come to be but The Hut Group has already penciled in September 16 as the day its shares will begin trading on the London Stock Exchange.
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Via Sky News
