Shares of THG soared a quarter on Friday as investors cheered the prospect of a multi-billion pound bidding war for the online retailer, including a possible bid from property tycoon Nick Candy.

The market value of THG, the online health and beauty retailer formerly known as the Hut Group, jumped nearly £400million to £1.8billion after the company confirmed that there have been three takeover approaches in recent weeks.

The company said it had rejected a £2.07 billion offer from two investment firms, Belerion Capital and King Street Capital Management, in a statement on Thursday evening. THG said it was the third such approach, but did not reveal details about the originator of the previous two, or the amount offered. Iain McDonald, co-founder and chief investment officer of Belerion, is a non-executive director of THG.

“THG’s board takes note of recent press speculation and confirms that it has received a third unsolicited, highly preliminary and indicative non-binding proposal of 170p per share,” the company said.

“THG’s Board of Directors reviewed the proposal, together with its financial and legal advisors, and concluded that it materially undervalued the company and its future prospects, and therefore unanimously rejected the proposal. “

London-based Belerion Capital, an investment advisory firm specializing in technology and e-commerce, had just £1.1m of net assets on its balance sheet as of June 30 last year, according to the latest filed at Companies House. Sales for the 11 months to June 30 were £2.1million and the business employed just seven people.

New York-headquartered King Street, which has six offices including London, Singapore and Tokyo, employs 220 people and manages more than $20 billion in assets.

THG’s confirmation of a third approach came hours after it emerged Candy was considering making a bid for the e-commerce company. Under UK takeover rules, Belerion and King, Candy and the other unnamed suitors have until June 16 to make a formal offer or walk away. Candy is also a major investor in London-listed podcast company Audioboom and augmented reality company Blippar.

Neither Belerion/King Street’s nor Candy’s takeover interest announcements were prompted by press reports linking the companies to THG, but both statements reveal that their interest cites “press speculation” as the catalyst for IPO.

Any offer requires the support of Matthew Moulding, the founder and managing director of THG, who has a special share that allows him to veto any hostile offers. The company said it intends to unwind the special equity arrangement by the end of this year.

Last month, Manchester-based THG, which runs beauty and nutrition websites including Lookfantastic, Cult Beauty and Myprotein, said it dismissed ‘many’ recent takeover approaches as ‘unacceptable’.

The company’s share price closed at 116p on Thursday, down 4%, but rose to 144p in early morning trading on Friday following bid speculation. The company floated at 500p in September 2020 and peaked at 837p last September.

THG is trying to recover from a difficult year when it was criticized for allowing Molding to serve as executive chairman and chief executive, which is contrary to best corporate governance practices.

The board also signed an agreement which saw Molding acquire a number of THG properties before leasing them to the company for millions of pounds a year.

Last year the company recorded a 35% increase in revenue to £2.2bn, helping to push adjusted profit up 7% to £161m. In its first quarter results this year, THG’s revenue rose 16% to £520m.