Sorry, the last lot of directors messed up. They underinvested in the business and lost our once-mighty competitive advantage. Our co-founder was half-right when he called the place a “shambles”. Therefore, we’re surrendering to a private equity takeover bid. Yes, the offer is pitched at half the peak share price from the glory days. And, yes, we know our day job involves promoting the merits of investing in listed companies. But what can you do?
That, obviously, is not precisely how the board of the investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown, led by chief executive Dan Olley and chair Alison Platt, explained why it is recommending acceptance of a £5.4bn bid from buyout titan CVC, Nordic Capital, and a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. But the meaning wasn’t wildly different.
