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Hargreaves Lansdown PLC on Friday accepted a £5.44 billion offer from a consortium of private equity buyers led by CVC. The consortium, made up of CVC Private Equity Funds, Nordic Capital XI Delta and Platinum Ivy B 2018 RSC Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, have agreed to pay 1,140 pence per share cash for each Hargreaves Lansdown share. This includes a dividend of 30p per Hargreaves Lansdown share in respect of the financial year to June 30 which was declared on Friday. Hargreaves Lansdown, the Bristol-based wealth management platform, received a takeover proposal from the consortium in June. On Monday, Hargreaves Lansdown told shareholders ‘discussions with the consortium remain ongoing’ as it sought to finalise terms. The bid values Hargreaves Lansdown at £5.44 billion on a fully diluted basis. Shares in Hargreaves Lansdown rose 2.0% to 1,099.00p in London on Friday morning, giving it a market capitalisation of £5.21 billion. The consortium said it had received backing from shareholders representing just over 25% of Hargreaves Lansdown shares. This includes the support of founders Peter Hargreaves and Stephen Lansdown. Hargreaves intends to keep 50% of his around 20% holding. Lansdown will sell his entire 5.7% stake. Hargreaves Lansdown Chair Alison Platt said: ‘The Independent HL board believes that the cash offer represents an attractive opportunity for HL shareholders to realise an immediate and certain cash value for their investment at a level which may not be achievable until the execution of the strategy is delivered over the medium to longer term.’ In addition, Hargreaves Lansdown reported results for the financial year to June 30. Pretax profit fell 1.6% to £396.3 million from £402.7 million a year prior. Revenue rose 4.1% to £764.9 million from £735.1 million. Net new business totalled £4.2 billion compared with £4.8 billion a year ago. Total assets under administration increased 16% to £155.3 billion from £134.0 billion. The total dividend was increased by 4.1% to 43.2p from 41.5p. Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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