Stake: THG founder Matt Moulding has increased his holding in Kelso Group for the third time this year
THG founder Matt Moulding has raised his stake in the activist investor besieging his online beauty and nutrition firm.
The tycoon increased his holding in Kelso Group for the third time this year. This means he holds 9.11 per cent of the shares in a company pressuring him to break up his own business empire.
The move, which makes him Kelso’s third biggest shareholder, has been likened to the so-called ‘Pac-Man defence’ used to ward off hostile takeovers.
The tactic is named after the computer game where players have to eat or be eaten.
Kelso, a top 20 investor in THG, has called for it to be broken up, arguing management should spin off its beauty, nutrition and e-commerce arms into separate companies.
Kelso believes that the value of the three divisions is significantly higher than the £900million the company is currently worth.