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The board of Hargreaves Lansdown said it was willing to “recommend unanimously” a takeover offer from private equity firms that would value the UK’s largest investment site at £5.4bn.
The company said a consortium of private equity funds led by CVC Capital Partners had returned with an offer of £11.40 a share after its previous approaches were rejected.
Hargreaves Lansdown said it had requested to extend the timeframe by which the private equity firms must make a firm offer beyond the original deadline on Wednesday, under UK takeover rules.
Should the bid be successful it would mean yet another company delisting from London’s capital markets, which have suffered an exodus as private equity firms and other bidders pick up relatively cheap companies. Meanwhile, other British companies are considering a US listing in an attempt to improve valuations.
The bidding private equity companies, which include Nordic Capital and Platinum Ivy, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, have already made three previous approaches, Hargreaves Lansdown confirmed.
The takeover approach follows a difficult few years for Hargreaves Lansdown, as costs have escalated under previous management while customer inflows have slowed. Shares in the business dropped from a peak of £24 in 2019 to as low as £7 earlier this year.
The latest offer of £11.40 comprises a final dividend of 30p for 2024 and an option for Hargreaves Lansdown shareholders to reinvest their stock in the private equity group’s unlisted vehicle.
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