Hargreaves Lansdown bidders given extra time to complete £5.4bn takeover bid

The private equity consortium behind a potential £5.4 billion takeover of London-listed trading platform Hargreaves Lansdown has been given more time to close the deal.

Under City rules, the suitors had until 5pm on Thursday to make the offer of £11.40 per share official. Hargreaves’ board has indicated it intends to accept the offer.

But the trading platform said the parties have now agreed to extend the “put up or shut up” deadline until 5pm on August 5.

Hargreaves said in a statement that “material elements of the due diligence investigation” required for the deal have been completed.

It said: ‘Discussions between Hargreaves Lansdown and the Consortium, as well as negotiations on definitive transaction documentation, are still ongoing.’

Hargreaves Lansdown has been turning the savings market on its head since it was founded 33 years ago by Peter Hargreaves and Stephen Lansdown.

By cutting out the cost-consuming middlemen, millions of ordinary savers were able to choose and trade their own stocks and funds.

The group now boasts a record £142.2bn of assets under management, compared with the £83.7bn and £66bn managed by major rivals AJ Bell and Interactive Investor respectively.

It has also made the co-founders multimillionaires. They still own a quarter of the shares and are open to offers, effectively holding the company’s fate in their hands.

Hargreaves has been highly critical of the previous management, telling the Financial Times that the management had presided over a “mess” that had halved the share price.

He blamed rising costs and the move into financial advice, a heavily regulated area that has also seen big banks and nimble digital players rush into it.

The firm is still recovering from its association with disgraced stockbroker Neil Woodford, whose funds it promoted even as they collapsed.

There is also criticism of the costs. Investments on the platform are charged at 0.45 percent per year, while rival AJ Bell charges 0.25 percent.

Dan Olley, who took over last year, has cut costs and reduced the use of digital advice.

However, analysts fear he does not have enough time to execute his strategy.