Finance

Adia consortium in $6.9bn deal for UK trading platform

August 9, 2024, 9:35 AM

Threadneedle Street in the heart of London's financial district. Hargreaves Lansdown will delist once its sale is completed

Hargreaves Lansdown accepts offer
ADIA joins with CVC, Nordic Capital
Assets valued at £155bn

A consortium including Abu Dhabi’s biggest sovereign wealth fund has agreed a deal to buy UK stock trading platform Hargreaves Lansdown for £5.4 billion ($6.9 billion), the London-listed company said on Friday.

Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia) subsidiary Platinum Ivy and private equity firms CVC and Nordic Capital will buy all Hargreaves Lansdown shares, which will delist once the sale is completed.

Shareholders will receive £11.40 per share, including a £0.30 dividend for the financial year ending June 30, Hargreaves Lansdown said in a regulatory filing.

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This valuation price represents a 54 percent premium on the company’s share price on the day before the Adia consortium announced its first bid in early April.

Hargreaves Lansdown’s board in May rejected the consortium’s previous offer of £9.85 per share.

Founded in 1981, Hargreaves Lansdown is among Britain’s top retail-focused savings and investment trading platforms. As of June 30, it had assets under administration of £155 billion.

The company’s annual revenue was £765 million in the 12 months to June 30, up 4 percent year on year, the filing states. Its annual underlying pre-tax profit rose by the same percentage to £456 million.

Adia is the world’s fourth-largest sovereign wealth fund with $993 billion of assets under management, according to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, and has participated in various deals with CVC.

The pair are major shareholders in Dutch accounting company TMF Group and Florida’s Fidelis Insurance. Adia also bought a 30 percent stake in appliance warranty company Domestic & General from the private equity firm in 2019.