British challenger bank Aldermore has been acquired by South African lender FirstRand for a sum of £1.1bn ($1.3bn).
The 313p per share offer represents a 22.3% premium to Aldermore’s closing price of 245p on October 12, the day before the companies announced they were in talks.
FirstRand has been looking to expand more into developed markets after seeing slowing growth and rising risks elsewhere in Africa. The bank already runs vehicle financing firm MotoNovo in the UK.
“[Aldermore] will allow the FirstRand to allocate more financial resources to our operations in Africa, whilst diversifying earnings in the UK,” FirstRand CEO Johan Burger said.
The UK-based challenger had a strong third quarter with net loans up 12% to hit £8.4bn, which was driven by £2.4bn of new lending. Customer deposits also grew by 8% to £7.2bn.
Phillip Monks, CEO of Aldermore, said: “Ongoing delivery against our strategic and financial targets extends our track record of performance and provides us with continued confidence in our future prospects. Both of these factors have been reflected in the offer received from FirstRand, which the Board is recommending to shareholders. With the backing of their considerable resources and wider capabilities, we will be able to accelerate the delivery of our strategy and further expand the products and services we offer our customers.”
Aldermore was founded in 2009 by a former Barclays executive with backing from private equity firm AnaCap.
