THIS ANNOUNCEMENT (INCLUDING THE APPENDICES) AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN ARE RESTRICTED AND ARE NOT FOR PUBLICATION, RELEASE OR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN OR INTO
FURTHER, THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN ARE FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND DO NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER OF SECURITIES IN ANY JURISDICTION. PLEASE SEE THE IMPORTANT NOTICES AT THE END OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT.
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION.
Terms used in this announcement have the same meaning given to them as defined in the Placing Announcement.
For immediate release
11 October 2024
THG PLC
Results of Placing
· Oversubscribed and upsized fundraise of
· Existing long-term and institutional shareholders contributed approximately
· Fundraising enables THG to continue with its plans to demerge its Ingenuity division, facilitating the simplification of THG's business model, as a cash generative global consumer beauty and nutrition group, with an improved balance sheet, capex and cashflow profile
· Strategic investment from Frasers Group, further underscoring their commitment to its multi-year strategic partnership with THG
THG PLC ("THG", the "Company") is pleased to announce the successful completion of the Placing of new Ordinary Shares announced yesterday (the "Placing Announcement") as well as the concurrent Subscription and Retail Offer as defined below (together, the "Fundraise").
A total of 194,722,333 new Ordinary Shares, representing 14.6 per cent. of the existing issued Ordinary Shares of the Company prior to the Fundraise, will be issued in the Fundraise at the Placing Price (as detailed below) to raise gross proceeds of approximately
Pursuant to the Placing, a total of 138,265,306 Placing Shares have been placed with new and existing investors (including Frasers as detailed below and new institutional long only demand, as well as certain of the Company's long-term shareholders who indicated their intention to subscribe pre-launch) at the Placing Price raising gross proceeds of approximately
The Placing Price of 49 pence represents a discount of approximately 5.2 per cent. to the closing price on 10 October 2024, the last trading day prior to the announcement of the Fundraise.
THG consulted with a number of its major shareholders prior to the Placing and has respected the principles of pre-emption through the allocation process.
The Company is pleased by the strong support it has received from both existing shareholders and new investors.
Strategic Investment
On 24 June 2024, THG announced a multi-year strategic partnership with Frasers Group ("Frasers") across several areas including a multi-year Ingenuity agreement, the deployment of Frasers Group's credit and loyalty platform, Frasers Plus, being made available to THG's Beauty and Nutrition customers through Ingenuity's Checkout product and launching a range of Myprotein products instore at Sports Direct.
Following the launch of THG's public bookbuild, Frasers confirmed their intention to make a strategic investment of
Barclays and Jefferies acted as Joint Global Coordinators and Barclays, Jefferies and Peel Hunt acted as Joint Bookrunners in respect of the Placing. The new Ordinary Shares will, when issued, be credited as fully paid and will rank pari passu in all respects with the existing Ordinary Shares at that time.
Applications will be made by the Company to the FCA for admission of the new Ordinary Shares to listing on the equity shares (transition) category of the Official List maintained by the Financial Conduct Authority and to the London Stock Exchange plc ("London Stock Exchange") for admission of the new Ordinary Shares to trading on the main market for listed securities of the London Stock Exchange. It is expected that Admission will occur at 8:00 am on 15 October 2024 and that dealings in the Placing Shares, the Subscription Shares and the Retail Offer Shares will commence at that time.
In accordance with the provision of the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules of the FCA ("DTRs"), the Company confirms that, following Admission, its issued share capital will comprise 1,525,760,174 Ordinary Shares of
Therefore, the total voting rights in the Company will be 1,525,760,174. This figure may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company under the DTRs.
For further information, please contact:
Investor Enquiries: Greg Feehely, SVP Investor Relations Kate Grimoldby, Director of Investor Relations and Strategic Projects |
Investor.Relations@thg.com |
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THG PLC Viki Tahmasebi |
Viki.tahmasebi@thg.com |
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Barclays (Joint Global Coordinator, Joint Bookrunner and Joint Corporate Broker): Alastair Blackman Dominic Harper Callum West |
+44 (0)20 7623 2323 |
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Jefferies International Limited (Joint Global Coordinator, Joint Bookrunner and Joint Corporate Broker): Philip Noblet Ed Matthews Gavriel Lambert |
+44 (0)20 7029 8000 |
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Peel Hunt LLP (Joint Bookrunner) |
+44 (0)20 7418 8900 |
IMPORTANT NOTICE
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT ITSELF CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL OR ISSUE, OR A SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO BUY, SUBSCRIBE FOR OR OTHERWISE ACQUIRE ANY SECURITIES IN THE COMPANY.
This Announcement, and the information contained herein, is restricted and is not for release, publication or distribution, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, to persons in or into
The securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the
No public offering of the Placing Shares is being made in the
No action has been taken by the Company, Barclays Bank PLC ("Barclays"), Jefferies International Limited ("Jefferies"), or Peel Hunt LLP ("Peel Hunt", and together with Barclays and Jefferies, the "Banks"), any of their respective affiliates, or any person acting on behalf of any of them, which would permit an offer of the Placing Shares or possession or distribution of this Announcement or any other offering or publicity material relating to such Placing Shares in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required.
Persons into whose possession this Announcement comes are required by the Company and the Banks to inform themselves about, and to observe, any restrictions contained in this Announcement. Persons (including, without limitation, nominees and trustees) who have a contractual or other legal obligation to forward a copy of this Announcement should seek appropriate advice before taking any action. Persons distributing this Announcement (or any part thereof) must satisfy themselves that it is lawful to do so.
This Announcement is directed at and is only being distributed to persons whose ordinary activities involve them acquiring, holding, managing and disposing of investments (as principal or agent) for the purposes of their business and who have professional experience in matters relating to investments and are: (a) if in a member state of the European Economic Area (the "EEA"), "qualified investors" ("Qualified Investors"), as defined in Article 2(e) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 (as amended, the "Prospectus Regulation"), (b) if in the
Any investment or investment activity to which this Announcement or the Placing relates is available only: (i) in any member state of the EEA, to Qualified Investors; and (ii) in the
All offers of the Placing Shares in the
The Placing Shares and this Announcement have not been approved and will not be approved or disapproved by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, any State securities commission or any other regulatory authority in
Accordingly, subject to certain exceptions, the Placing Shares may not be offered, sold, transferred or delivered, directly or indirectly, in or into any Restricted Territory or to, or for the account or benefit of, a citizen or resident, or a corporation, partnership or other entity created or organised in or under the laws of a Restricted Territory.
Certain statements in this Announcement are forward-looking statements with respect to the Company's expectations, intentions and projections regarding its future performance, strategic initiatives, anticipated events or trends and other matters that are not historical facts and which are, by their nature, inherently predictive, speculative and involve risks and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. All statements that address expectations or projections about the future, including statements about operating performance, strategic initiatives, objectives, market position, industry trends, general economic conditions, expected expenditures, expected cost savings and financial results, are forward ‐ looking statements. Any statements contained in this Announcement that are not statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward‐looking statements. These forward-looking statements, which may use words such as "aim", "anticipate", "believe", "could", "intend", "estimate", "expect", "may", "plan", "project" or words or terms of similar meaning or the negative thereof, are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties. There are a number of factors including, but not limited to, commercial, operational, economic and financial factors, that could cause actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward‐looking statements. Many of these risks and uncertainties relate to factors that are beyond the Company's ability to control or estimate precisely, such as changes in taxation or fiscal policy, future market conditions, currency fluctuations, the behaviour of other market participants, the actions of governments or governmental regulators, or other risk factors, such as changes in the political, social and regulatory framework in which the Company operates or in economic or technological trends or conditions, including inflation, recession and consumer confidence, on a global, regional or national basis. Given those risks and uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this Announcement. Each of the Banks and the Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise unless required to do so by applicable law or regulation.
Barclays, which is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and authorised and regulated by the FCA, Jefferies, which is authorised and regulated by the FCA, and Peel Hunt, which is authorised and regulated by the FCA, are acting exclusively for the Company and for no one else in connection with the Placing and will not regard any other person (whether or not a recipient of this Announcement) as a client in relation to the Placing, the contents of this Announcement or any other matter referred to in this Announcement and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to their respective clients or for giving advice in relation to the Placing, the contents of this Announcement or any other matter referred to in this Announcement.
This Announcement is being issued by, and is the sole responsibility of, the Company. No representation or warranty, express or implied, is or will be made as to, or in relation to, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by or on behalf of any of the Banks, any of their respective affiliates, or any person acting on behalf of any of them as to, or in relation to, the accuracy, adequacy, fairness or completeness of this Announcement or any other written or oral information made available to or publicly available to any party or its advisers, or any other statement made or purported to be made by or on behalf of any of the Banks and/or any of their respective affiliates and/or by any person acting on behalf of any of them in connection with the Company, the Placing Shares or the Placing and any responsibility and liability whether arising in tort, contract or otherwise therefor is expressly disclaimed.
The information in this Announcement may not be forwarded or distributed to any other person and may not be reproduced in any manner whatsoever. Any forwarding, distribution, reproduction or disclosure of this Announcement, in whole or in part, is unauthorised. Failure to comply with this directive may result in a violation of the Securities Act or the applicable laws of other jurisdictions.
This Announcement does not constitute a recommendation concerning any investor's options with respect to the Placing. Recipients of this Announcement should conduct their own investigation, evaluation and analysis of the business, data and other information described in this Announcement. This Announcement does not identify or suggest, or purport to identify or suggest, the risks (direct or indirect) that may be associated with an investment in the Placing Shares. The price and value of securities can go down as well as up and investors may not get back the full amount invested upon the disposal of the shares. Past performance is not a guide to future performance. The contents of this Announcement are not to be construed as legal, business, financial or tax advice. Each investor or prospective investor should consult his or her or its own legal adviser, business adviser, financial adviser or tax adviser for legal, business, financial or tax advice.
Any indication in this Announcement of the price at which the Company's shares have been bought or sold in the past cannot be relied upon as a guide to future performance. Persons needing advice should consult an independent financial adviser. No statement in this Announcement is intended to be a profit forecast or profit estimate for any period and no statement in this Announcement should be interpreted to mean that earnings, earnings per share or income, cash flow from operations or free cash flow for the Company for the current or future financial periods would necessarily match or exceed the historical published earnings, earnings per share or income, cash flow from operations or free cash flow for the Company.
The Placing Shares to be issued pursuant to the Placing will not be admitted to trading on any stock exchange other than the main market for listed securities of the London Stock Exchange.
Members of the public are not eligible to take part in the Placing and no public offering of Placing Shares is being or will be made.
Neither the content of the Company's website (or any other website) nor the content of any website accessible from hyperlinks on the Company's website (or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this Announcement.
This Announcement has been prepared for the purposes of complying with applicable law and regulation in the
Solely for the purposes of the product governance requirements of Chapter 3 of the FCA Handbook Product Intervention and Product Governance Sourcebook (the "
For the avoidance of doubt, the Target Market Assessment does not constitute: (a) an assessment of suitability or appropriateness for the purposes of Chapters 9A or 10A respectively of COBS; or (b) a recommendation to any investor or group of investors to invest in, or purchase, or take any other action whatsoever with respect to the Placing Shares. Each distributor is responsible for undertaking its own target market assessment in respect of the Placing Shares and determining appropriate distribution channels.
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