NSF makes £1.3bn takeover bid for UK lender Provident Financial
Non-Standard Finance (NSF) has made an unsolicited offer to buy rival UK lender Provident Financial for £1.3 billion.
This is its second bid for the firm
This is its second bid for the firm, and NSF is looking for more action for credit cards, home credit, branch-based lending and guarantor loans.
NSF says the transaction is “formally supported” by shareholders holding over 50% of Provident’s share capital.
Provident comments: “The board’s considered response to the offer will be announced in due course. In the meantime, shareholders are strongly advised to take no action in respect of the NSF offer.”
NSF’s chief John van Kuffeler was previously CEO and chairman at Provident.
In fact, Provident is struggling at present with falling shares, profit warnings and the resignation of a former chief executive.
Last month, it warned again that profits would fall below analysts’ expectations.
It’s also feeling the pain from Vanquis. As reported in February last year, its credit card lender subsidiary Vanquis was fined by the UK’s regulator and ordered to compensate customers £168 million for price disclosure fails on a product.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) imposed a fine of £1.97 million as Vanquis failed to reveal the full price of an add-on product, called repayment option plan (ROP).
In addition, Provident’s car finance firm Moneybarn is under investigation by the FCA over how it treats borrowers who fall behind with payments.
