A consortium of private equity firms attempting to takeover challenger bank Shawbrook plc (LON:SHAW) are running out of time to secure enough shareholder voting power to push through the deal ahead of a Monday deadline.
BC Partners and Pollen Street Capital, which owned Shawbrook before floating it on the stock market two years ago, remain stuck under the minimum acceptance threshold needed for the acquisition to go ahead.
The pair announced today they had gained 46.6% of Shawbrook’s shares after convincing more shareholders to sell the firms a further stake. They also hold letters of intent in support of the offer from shareholders representing another 0.2% holding, which would bring their total to 47%.
But the consortium needs to reach a minimum acceptance threshold of 50% plus one by 1.00pm on Monday, or 75% to take the bank private.
Unless there are a last-minute flood of shareholders taking up the offer, the consortium looks set to fail in takeover attempt.
However, it is not at all impossible as shareholders often wait until the offer deadline is due to expire before committing.
Last week Shawbrook said independent directors have advised shareholders to take no action on a revised bid from the consortium as they believed it undervalued the company and its prospects.
Pollen Street and BC Partners had raised their offer by £26mln to £868mln in a final attempt to convince shareholders to accept the deal.
Shawbrook began trading at 290p a share in April 2015, valuing the stock at £725mln. But like other challenger banks, its earnings have been squeezed by a prolonged period of low interest rates.