British online firm receives 39;highly preliminary39; approach
THG39;s shares have lost more than 90 of their value in two years
Shares jump 40 after approach

April 17 Reuters Shares in online retail platform THG surged more than 40 after it said it had received a highly preliminary buyout proposal from Apollo Global Management, without disclosing terms of the plan.

Apollo must announce a firm intention to make an offer by May 15 or walk away, the British company said.

THG, which owns beauty and nutrition ecommerce sites, as well as an online platform serving thirdparty brands, was valued at more than 10 billion pounds 12.4 billion in early 2021, but its shares lost more than 90 of their value after it issued a string of profit warnings in the last 12 months.

The company has encountered problems including missing its forecasts for revenue growth, higher commodity prices for its protein shakes, and disruption to courier services, which hit online deliveries in December.

Its market value before it confirmed the approach on Monday was around 925 million pounds.

The approach is the latest sign of private equity interest in Londonlisted companies.

Oil services company John Wood Group said on Monday it is engaging with Apollo over a possible 1.66 billionpound offer, while CVC Capital and Francisco Partners have tabled a 2.1 billionpound takeover bid for payments provider Network International.

Last week, EQT entered talks with veterinary pharma group Dechra over a…