(Bloomberg) -- Stephen Lansdown is set to bank more than £300 million ($382 million) from the sale of Hargreaves Lansdown Plc. But the end of his decades-long ties to the firm that came to define retail investing in the UK is generating mixed emotions.
“I can’t help but describe it as a bittersweet moment,” Stephen Lansdown, the company’s largest individual shareholder after fellow founder Peter Hargreaves, said in a telephone interview Friday. “I’m very pleased with the outcome, but I’m also very sad because it’s an end of an era.”
His comments come after Hargreaves Lansdown unanimously recommended shareholders support the offer by CVC Capital Partners, Nordic Capital and a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. The take-private deal values the Bristol, England-based company at £5.4 billion.
Lansdown, who turns 72 this month, is set to pocket a windfall of about £309 million after he agreed to sell his remaining 5.7% stake in the company he helped to set up more than four decades ago, according to calculations by Bloomberg. He said he plans to deploy his windfall across the rest of his business holdings.
“We’ve been building businesses, and we’re getting to the point of taking those to the next stage,” said Lansdown, who declined to name any specific investments and manages his wealth through his family office, Pula. “Some of this money will be concentrated in helping those companies.”
Lansdown co-founded the company in 1981, initially providing information on unit trusts and tax planning. He stepped down as chairman in 2009 and has already sold stock worth more than £500 million, often doing so to support his other investments such as Bristol City football club, a Botswana safari business and a golf resort in the British crown dependency of Guernsey, where he now lives.
He’s also co-founder of Earth Capital, a private equity firm focused on sustainable investing, and acquired a stake last year through his family office in a Guernsey-based financial services business. Pula’s other past investments include Vertical Future, a London-based indoor farming startup.
Both Lansdown and Hargreaves, 77, have agreed to vote in favor of the deal after previously signalling their support in June for an increased offer for their namesake firm, which has almost 1.9 million customers and £155 billion in assets under management. Hargreaves, though, will retain a major stake in the company as a closely held business and cash in half his 19.8% stake, earning him £535 million to add to a similar windfall in early 2021 that he used to re-invest in stock markets across the UK and US.
Hargreaves, who stepped down as chief executive officer in 2010 and didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday, has a net worth of about $3.3 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Well Wishes
Hargreaves Lansdown’s stock has gained more than 500% since its initial public offering in 2007, though they have more than halved since hitting a record high five years ago.
In recent years, rivals such as AJ Bell Plc and Interactive Investor have also started to win market share of UK retail investors’ wealth, partly helped by their lower fees. Still, Lansdown said he’s bullish on his namesake company’s prospects following the takeover deal, which is set to close in early 2025.
“I’m sure it will be a great success,” he said. “I wish everybody at the company well going forward.”
--With assistance from Leonard Kehnscherper.
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
