The private equity consortium poised to acquire Hargreaves Lansdown has expanded the group financing the £5.4bn takeover deal by adding a number of lenders.
CVC, Nordic Capital and Platinum Ivy, a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, announced this morning that they have enlisted four new lenders to fund the cash offer for the investment platform. These lenders include Korea Investment, KDB Asia, Sona Asset Management, and Canadian pension giant The Public Sector Pension Board.
Last week, the consortium also revealed that it had added Oaktree Capital Management, Pinestreet Asset Management, Albacore Capital, LGT Capital Partners, Stepstones Group, the Novo Nordisk Foundation, HSBC, and Japanese banks Mizuho and MUFG to its list of lenders.
The deal, which received approval from the Hargreaves Lansdown board on 9 August, will see the UK’s largest retail investment platform, holding a 40 per cent market share, transition into private ownership. This marks another takeover of a London-listed company following a wave of departures from the London Stock Exchange this year.
Previously, the group had rejected three takeover bids, as reported by City AM.
The original lenders for the deal, announced prior to the board’s approval of the takeover, were HPS Investment Partners, KKR Credit Advisors, Apollo Global Management and Blackstone Credit.
Hargreaves Lansdown also disclosed yesterday the date on which shareholders will vote on the deal to approve the takeover.
In a recent announcement to the stock exchange, the board of the platform stated that shareholders will be asked to approve the deal on 14 October.
Furthermore, the company’s annual general meeting, initially planned for 22 October, has been postponed to December.
The board of Hargreaves Lansdown also highlighted that a dividend of 30 pence per share is set to be paid out to shareholders on 1 November, based on the group’s full-year dividend for the year ending 30 June.