The doorstep lender trying to fend off a £1.2 billion hostile takeover received a significant boost after one of its biggest shareholders spurned the bid and criticised investors backing the deal.
Schroders, the third largest shareholder in Provident Financial with a 14.6 per cent stake, yesterday became the first investor to publicly reject an all-share offer from Non-Standard Finance, a smaller sub-prime lender. Its opposition means that Non-Standard Finance now cannot fulfil its target of securing the backing of investors owning at least 90 per cent of Provident’s shares, although it could lower its acceptance threshold.
Provident offers high-interest loans to borrowers who find it difficult to access credit. Non-Standard Finance is led by John van Kuffeler, who spent 22 years in charge of Provident
