Boohoo founders cash in to tune of £140m on high share price

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Dec 5, 2019

The founders of Boohoo have pocketed £142.5 million after selling a chunk of their shares to take advantage of the company's market gains over the last year.

Mahmud Kamani and Carol Kane have sold 50,0000 shares for 285p each via an accelerated bookbuild placing. This represented approximately 4.3% of Boohoo’s issued share capital.

The move has seen Kane’s shareholding reduced by a third to 2.7%, while Kamani’s stake has been cut to 13.1%. 

They continue to own 15.8% of the fashion group, whose brands include PrettyLittleThing, BoohooMan, Nasty Gal and MissPap.

The sell-off was managed by Zeus Capital and Jefferies, and it came days after Boohoo revealed a record Black Friday performance and a ‘strong’ operational performance across its two warehouses in Burnley and Sheffield.

Boohoo’s share price has surged by nearly 60% over the past year as management continues to build the business through acquisitions and celebrity endorsements. At current market levels, the fashion retailer has a £3.2 billion valuation.

Kamani and Kane launched the brand in 2006. Both of them continue to oversee the business, with Kamani acting as group executive chairman and Kane as an executive director.

News of the placing sent the stock down in early trading on Thursday, however the founders have assured investors they will not sell any further ordinary shares for a period of 18 months.