Funds managed by Blackrock are selling about 55 million shares in troubled Manchester-based e-commerce, beauty and nutrition giant THG plc, Reuters reported, citing a bookrunner.

Blackrock is the biggest institutional shareholder of THG — formerly called The Hut Group — after the company founder Matthew Moulding’s 14.19% holding.

THG went public at £5 a share in September 2020 and the stock rose to almost £8.

However, it has now fallen to around £2.17 amid investor concerns over its transparency and governance.

THG published a third quarter trading statement on October 26 showing its Q3 revenue rose 38% to £507.8 million and outlining its efforts to improve governance amid plans to move its listing to the premium segment of the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

The firm announced the appointment of Andreas Hansson, a managing director from investor SoftBank, to its board, and the start of a process to appoint an independent non-executive chair.

On October 26, THG also announced growth figures for its Ingenuity technology unit — which it plans to spin off — as it sought to repair its image among investors following a badly-received presentation to investors on Ingenuity earlier in October.

THG is currently listed on the standard segment of the LSE and the premium listing it now seeks would demand stricter corporate governance standards.