Hargreaves Lansdown rejects £4.7bn takeover offer
Target: Hargreaves Lansdown said it has received two approaches from a consortium of buyers
Britain’s biggest investment platform has become the latest London-listed company to be targeted by foreign bidders.
After the market closed last night, Hargreaves Lansdown said it had received two approaches from a consortium of buyers regarding a possible takeover.
The latest offer – worth 985p a share or £4.67billion – was unanimously rejected by the board ‘on the basis it substantially undervalues Hargreaves Lansdown and its future prospects’.
But the suitors – private equity firm CVC, Nordic Capital and Platinum Ivy, which is owned by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) – were considering a fresh offer.
Hargreaves Lansdown is just the latest London-listed company to be targeted by foreign buyers this year, with the value of bids from overseas topping £70billion.
The swoop became public just hours after mining giant Anglo American rejected a third bid from larger rival BHP worth £39billion.
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But it agreed to enter talks with the Australian group in a sign that a deal may be on the cards after a drawn-out bid battle.
Others to have been approached in recent weeks include Royal Mail owner International Distributions Services (IDS), packaging giant DS Smith and cyber-security group Darktrace.
This week has also seen bids for the video game company Keywords Studios and energy firm XP Power.
Hargreaves shares, which rose 5 per cent, or 46.2p, to 979p, will be in sharp focus when trading resumes in London today.
The FTSE 250 firm’s stock, which has tumbled since the pandemic, has risen by a third this year to its highest level since August 2022.
Although it is considering another bid, the CVC-led consortium warned ‘there can be no certainty that any firm offer will be made’.
Under takeover rules, it has until June 19 to announce whether it wants to make a firm offer or walk away.
The assault on ‘UK plc’ has fuelled concerns that British companies are undervalued and face a feeding frenzy of merger and acquisition activity.
A further concern is the lack of companies joining the stock market through initial public offerings (IPOs).One analyst even warned that the London stock market was facing a ‘death by a thousand cuts’ as listed firms bow to foreign takeovers.
