Non-Standard Finance (NSF) has abandoned plans to acquire subprime lender Provident Financial after failing to secure the full support of Provident shareholders.
The company announced it would be withdrawing its £1.3bn hostile bid, a day before the deadline to declare either an unconditional takeover or to let it lapse.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Access deeper industry intelligence
Experience unmatched clarity with a single platform that combines unique data, AI, and human expertise.
In a statement, NSF said that following discussions with regulatory authorities, it has come to the conclusion that conditions for the offer “will not be satisfied by midnight on 5 June 2019, the last time by which all conditions to the offer must be satisfied or waived.
“Accordingly, NSF has decided, with the consent of the takeover panel, to lapse the offer. Therefore, as of midnight on 5 June 2019, the offer will lapse and will not be capable of further acceptance and Provident Shareholders who have accepted the offer will cease to be bound by such acceptances.”
In March, NSF announced that it would l proceed with its hostile takeover bid of rival firm Provident Finance, despite only securing the support of 53.5% of the company’s shareholders.
At the time, Provident said that it had “very substantial concerns” about the offer, stating that “the deal is not done. In three months, NSF has added just 3.5% of support, which speaks volumes. Three regulators still need to bless this and shareholders should continue to reject this woeful offer.”
On Tuesday, John van Kuffeler, group chief executive at NSF, said: “”I am very disappointed that despite our best efforts customers, employees and shareholders will not now benefit from our transformation plan to build a brighter future by combining Provident with NSF.
“I wish to thank our shareholders for their support and all of NSF’s staff and self-employed agents for their continued dedication.”
