Hargreaves Lansdown extends takeover deadline for third time

Hargreaves Lansdown has, for the third time, extended the deadline for a group of private equity bidders to make a firm £5.4bn takeover offer during a crucial week for the UK’s biggest retail investment platform.

The FTSE 100 firm said on Monday that it had pushed back the “put up or shut up” deadline on takeover talks to 5pm on 9 August, with the consent of the Panel on Takeovers and Mergers.

The deadline for the consortium of bidders – comprising buyout giant CVC, Copenhagen’s Nordic Capital and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority-owned Platinum Ivy – had last month been pushed back to 5pm on Monday.

Hargreaves Lansdown said talks with the consortium “remain ongoing”. The Bristol-based firm said in June that it would be “willing to recommend” a firm offer that values Hargreaves Lansdown at £5.4bn, or £11.40 a share, having rejected several lower bids from the consortium.

The discussions come amid a takeover offensive on London-listed firms this year, with mostly foreign buyers pouncing on the relatively low valuations of UK stocks.

Fears have grown that listed businesses are systemically undervalued in the UK compared to public markets in the US, with the initial bid for Hargreaves Lansdown coming in at a 30 per cent premium on its trading price immediately before the offer period.

Hargreaves Lansdown, which is due to report its final results on Friday, will need to convince shareholders of its support for any deal.

The final bid’s unusual structure, which gives shareholders the opportunity to keep their stake in the firm even in its private incarnation, has raised eyebrows among shareholders.

Some believe it was landed on in order to appease the firm’s two founders, Peter Hargreaves and Stephen Lansdown, who own 20 per cent and six per cent respectively.