Suitors back out as THG rebuffs all recent 'undervalued' buyout approaches

By Sinchita Mitra

(Reuters) -Two suitors for THG Plc pulled out on Thursday after the British e-commerce firm disclosed it had rejected recent takeover approaches as undervalued, sending its shares tumbling about 23%.

London-listed THG said the approaches "significantly" undervalued it, and that its board did not think it was "appropriate" to provide due diligence access to the parties who made overtures recently - without naming them.

The owner of Myprotein supplements has become a takeover target in recent months after losing two-thirds of its market value since debuting on the London Stock Exchange in 2020.

A consortium of Belerion Capital and King Street Capital Management, and British mogul Nick Candy's acquisition vehicle Candy Ventures Sarl in separate statements confirmed that they did not intend to make offers for THG.

Candy showed an interest in THG last month when the latter disclosed that it had rejected a possible offer of 170 pence per share from the two investment groups.

THG shares were down 20.8% at 83.4 pence as of 0936 GMT even as the group said it continued to perform well and in line with its own expectations.

THG on Thursday also indicated that it would not extend a deadline which was set for making firm offers to the group.

In April, THG had also said it rejected "numerous" bids that failed to reflect its value, as its founder and CEO Matthew Moulding sparked speculations of a take-private deal last year by saying he regretted taking the company public.

($1 = 0.8255 pounds)

(Reporting by Sinchita Mitra in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)