One of Manchester's richest men has gifted shares in his retail and software giant worth more than £800,000 to a number of his friends. Matthew Moulding, who is chief executive of THG, has bought a further 1.169 million shares in the Manchester-headquartered retail giant at a price of 70.2287p each.
He then immediately gifted the shares to various friends for free, according to the company's latest filing with the London Stock Exchange.
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THG has not named the recipients of the shares, how many there are or how many shares they have each been given. Mr Moulding has a stake of about 22% in THG.
The news comes after a $1.6bn deal that would have seen Japanese investment giant SoftBank take a near 20% stake in a major division of THG was abandoned yesterday.
It was announced in May 2021 that SB Management (SBM), a division of SoftBank, had bought an option to acquire a 19.9% holding in THG Ingenuity that valued it at $6.3bn.
It was also confirmed that SBM would also buy a $730m stake in Manchester-headquartered THG.
However, it was confirmed yesterday that the agreement had been "terminated by mutual agreement" because of "global macroeconomic conditions".
THG also said that it has "completed the internal separation of its key trading divisions" in a move which it said offers "flexibility to enter into future strategic partnerships to generate value accretion for its stakeholders".
Earlier this year it was revealed that Mr Moulding and his wife Jodie have seen their fortune plummet to £700m from £2.1bn a year ago, according to the latest Sunday Times Rich List.
Shares in THG recently reached a record low after two potential buyers walked away.
Two investment companies behind a potential £2.07bn takeover bid of THG confirmed in June that they will not make a formal offer for the company.
It was later confirmed that Nick Candy, the property tycoon who was recently involved in a bid to buy Chelsea FC, had also pulled out of a move to takeover THG.
Mr Moulding recently completed the donation of millions of pounds to charitable causes in the city.
The MEN reported at the start of this month that the CEO was to donate a total of £5m to Seashell Trust, a campus for children with complex needs in Stockport, and £3.5m to projects addressing homelessness in Manchester.
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