Beauty, wellness and software giant THG is being eyed up by private equity firms for a potential buyout, according to reports.

Representatives from Advent International are said to have visited the firm’s Manchester headquarters while LA-based Leonard Green is understood to have also expressed an interest.

Shares jumped by more than 18% on Friday, valuing the online retailer at about £1.65bn, after speculation about private equity interest was published in a Betaville blog post.

READ MORE: Top THG boss sells more than £8m in shares held for him by Matthew Moulding

It was also reported in The Sunday Times that sources close to Apollo was less likely to snap up THG, which was co-founded by Matthew Moulding.

According to the newspaper’s sources, the US-based investment management firm was already one of THG’s debtholders.

Shares in THG fell on Monday by more than 3% during early trading.

THG’s share price hit a new record low towards the end of January after falling by 20%.

The value of shares in the group slumped during the day’s trading on Monday, January 24, and reached the new low point before ending at 18.7% down.

The group endured a torrid 2021 with its share price being slashed over the last 12 months. In January last year, THG’s shares were priced at almost 800p each.