(Finance) – The independent directors of Hargreaves Lansdown and the board of directors of Harp Bidco (consortium led by CVC Advisers) have reached a agreement on the terms and conditions of a final cash acquisition. Each shareholder of the English financial services company will be entitled to receive 1,140 pence in cash per share, comprising: cash consideration of 1,110 pence per share and a dividend of 30 pence per share in respect of the financial year ended 30 June 2024. The cash offer values the entire share capital at approximately £5.443 million.
Investors consider Hargreaves Lansdown “one of the UK’s leading investment platforms with an impressive position and a strong sense of purpose in the attractive UK wealth market.” The company is expected to benefit from a number of tailwinds over the next decade, driven by greater individual responsibility for savings, pension freedom, an ageing population, further digitisation of the wealth process, the growing importance of data and AI-driven businesses.
A transformation of the scale that the consortium envisages as appropriate will require investment, particularly in the technology platform to position Hargreaves Lansdown to offer its customers intuitive digital channels, engaging customer journeys (both online and via the Helpdesk) and differentiated financial products. However, to achieve such a transformation, “it will require change, investment, time to fully implement and time for the benefits to be reflected in future financial performance” and as a result a delisting from the London Stock Exchange.
CVC Private Equity Funds, Nordic Capital and Platinum Ivy (a wholly-owned subsidiary of ADIA) “all have strong capital deployment expertise, expertise in accelerating and delivering complex transformations, and extensive experience investing in regulated financial services firms globally and in the UK,” it said in a statement.