Up for grabs: THG founder Matt Molding has increased his stake in Kelso Group for the third time this year
THG founder Matt Molding has increased his stake in the activist investor besieging his online beauty and nutrition company.
The tycoon increased his stake in Kelso Group for the third time this year. This means that he owns 9.11 percent of the shares of a company that puts pressure on him to break up his own business empire.
The move, which makes it Kelso’s third-largest shareholder, has been compared to the so-called “Pac-Man defense” used to protect itself from hostile takeovers.
The tactic is named after the computer game in which players have to eat or be eaten.
Kelso, a top 20 investor in THG, has called for it to be dissolved, arguing that management should spin off its beauty, nutrition and e-commerce arms into separate companies.
Kelso believes the value of all three divisions is significantly higher than the £900m the company is currently worth.
