Shawbrook has turned down an £825m takeover offer
Challenger bank Shawbrook revealed today that it had rejected an £825m takeover bid by a private equity consortium.
Shawbrook announced that Pollen Street Capital and BC Partners had paired up to offer 330p per share after the bank's board rejected an initial offer of 307p per share, but the board said: "Taking into account the terms of the revised proposal, the confidence the board has in Shawbrook's strategy and plan and the feedback from Shawbrook's major institutional shareholders, the board has concluded that it is not willing to recommend the consortium's revised proposal."
The revised proposal has therefore been rejected by the board.
The bank added that it "remains very confident in Shawbrook's strategy as a publicly listed company… and in the ability of its current management team to deliver its plan, and is clear that its successful delivery and growth trajectory would generate significant shareholder value over the period to 2020".
Shares in the bank were down four per cent at pixel time.
Meanwhile, Shawbrook announced today that net operating income in 2016 grew to £209.6m from £166.9m in 2015.
Statutory profit before tax was up to £88.2m from £70.1m, and profit rose to £64.8m from £58.5m. Underlying pre-tax profit was £91.4m, compared with £64.1m in 2015.
Describing 2016 as a "pivotal year" for Shawbrook, chief executive Steve Pateman said: "We have achieved sustainable growth across all of our lending divisions and delivered strong risk adjusted returns.
"Notwithstanding the changes in the political environment and the subsequent uncertainty arising in the macroeconomic climate, we have continued to execute our plans through deep market knowledge, innovation and through close understanding and awareness of our customers' needs."
He added: "Shawbrook's journey since listing has been somewhat more challenging than anticipated due to the changes in the macroeconomic climate and outlook and the identification of the controls breach in the business finance division announced on 28 June 2016.
"However, Shawbrook today has a strengthened management team and sound foundations, making it well placed to take advantage of the opportunities that will continue to arise from the structural changes taking place in the UK banking market. Our disciplines on risk, returns, costs, liquidity and capital are clear and as we move forward, our guiding principles will be quality rather than quantity which, combined with practical banking and good sense, will create resilience, durability and sustainability."