The founders of Hargreaves Lansdown hold the key in the £4.7 billion takeover battle

It’s decision time for the potential owners of Hargreaves Lansdown.

A trio of private equity heavyweights have until Wednesday to make a formal bid for Britain’s biggest investment platform or walk away. It follows their £4.7 billion tilt, which was rejected in April.

The unsolicited £9.85 per share approach marks a turning point for the company, which manages £150bn of savings and pensions for its almost two million customers. It has turned the savings market upside down since it was founded 33 years ago by Peter Hargreaves and Stephen Lansdown.

Eliminating fee-hungry middlemen has given millions of ordinary savers the ability to choose and trade their own stocks and funds.

It also made the co-founders multi-millionaires. They still own a quarter of the shares and are open to offers, effectively putting the fate of the company in their hands.

Hargreaves, 77, the largest individual shareholder with a 20 percent stake, told the Ny Breaking he was “looking at all options” and “watching with interest.”

Lansdown, 71, told Bloomberg: “It’s interesting to see that third parties are now seeing the value of Hargreaves Lansdown and want to benefit from it.”

Hargreaves was an outspoken critic of the previous management, telling the Financial Times that it had presided over “a mess” that had halved the share price.

He blamed rising costs and a shift towards financial advice – a heavily regulated area that has also been entered by big banks and nimble digital players.

The company is still rebuilding its partnership with fallen stock picker Neil Woodford, whose funds it promoted even as they sailed onto the rocks. It has also been criticized for its fees, charging 0.45 percent annually for investments on its platform, compared to 0.25 percent for rival AJ Bell.

The Financial Conduct Authority is looking into the matter, citing new consumer duty rules requiring financial firms to deliver ‘good outcomes’ for their customers. The company’s fees are yet to be “understood,” said Andrew Crean of Autonomous, an independent research firm.

What attracted bidding interest is that Britain’s largest fund supermarket makes most of its profits risk-free. It has been one of the biggest winners from the recent sharp rise in interest rates, as customers typically hold a tenth of their portfolio in cash.

The Bristol firm deposits this with the Bank of England at an overnight rate of 5.25 per cent, pays customers a lower interest rate – just 3 per cent on a cash Isa of up to £10,000 – and pockets the difference. Last year it generated £269 million – two-thirds of profits – compared to £50 million in 2022.

Other platforms such as AJ Bell and Interactive Investor also earn a lot this way, but do not dominate the sector.

Boss Dan Olley, who took over last year, has reined in costs and cut back on digital advice.

But analysts fear he may not have time to implement his strategy.