Hargreaves Lansdown wins back place in FTSE 100

Hargreaves Lansdown

Financial services firm Hargreaves Lansdown is set to re-join the FTSE 100 after an absence of six months.

The news come hot on the heels of a multi-million takeover bid for the Bristol based business.

Hargreaves Lansdown is moving back into the top 100 following the exit of Flutter Entertainment.

Flutter shareholders earlier this month backed the firm’s move to a standard Main Market listing, from a premium one. The gambling firm is moving its premium listing to New York.

Meanwhile one of the founders Hargreaves Lansdown has said he watching the £4.6bn takeover attempt by a consortium of private equity investors “with interest”.

The board of Hargreaves Lansdown unanimously rejected the offer from the group of investors, which includes CVC and a unit owned by Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, because it substantially undervalues Hargreaves Lansdown and its future prospects.

Shares in the Bristol-headquartered firm jumped over 15 per cent following the news of the attempted takeover.

Peter Hargreaves

Founder Peter Hargreaves owns around a fifth of the firm and is one of the richest men in the South West.

He refused to comment on the company’s decision to bat away the 985p-a-share offer when approached by The Times.

“I really feel at this point in the proceedings that anything I say could be completely misconstrued.

“I’ve noted it’s happening and I’m sitting watching with interest.”

Stephen Lansdown, the other founder, who owns around five per cent of the company, told the paper that the takeover proposal was “interesting and I await developments”.

The group bidding for the company consists of private equity giants CVC, Nordic Capital, and Platinum Ivy, the latter of which is owned by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

Hargreaves Lansdown was relegated from the FTSE 100 last November for the first time since it joined the blue chip index in 2011.

 

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