FirstRand offers R18bn for UK bank

CEO JOHAN BURGER IS LOOKING TO BUILD REVENUES BEYOND SOUTH AFRICA Shares in the British firm soar.

FirstRand, Africa’s biggest lender by market value, offered to buy UK challenger bank Aldermore Group for about £1.1 billion (R18 billion). Shares in the British firm soared.

Aldermore received “an indicative proposal” from Johannesburg-based FirstRand of 313 pence per share, 37% more than its average share price this year through Thursday, and directors at the UK lender are likely to recommend a “firm offer at this level,” the Berkshire-based bank said in a statement.

The SA bank, which already has an car-finance business in the UK, confirmed its approach in a separate statement.

FirstRand chief executive officer Johan Burger is looking to build revenues beyond South Africa, the bank’s biggest market, as political instability under President Jacob Zuma batters confidence in the economy. That could spell a payday for Aldermore shareholders, who are among the hedge funds and billionaire investors who flocked to so-called challenger banks in the UK in the wake of the financial crisis.

“FirstRand has been assessing opportunities to build a sustainable long-term deposit franchise to fund its strategy to grow and diversify the revenues of its current UK business,” it said. The possible Aldermore purchase, “with its unique operating model, market positioning and strength in deposit taking, would provide the ideal platform for FirstRand to fulfill this strategy on an accelerated basis”.

FirstRand is looking to shore up finances at its UK car-finance business, known as MotoNovo, as regulators and analysts signal concern that the industry is overheating. The bank funds much of these operations through securitisation – the process of pooling loans into tradeable securities and selling them to investors – and is seeking a more stable alternative, UBS Group AG analysts wrote in a note to clients on October 11.

The transaction is subject to conditions and there is no certainty a firm offer will be made.

Shares in Aldermore climbed 18.36% to 303 pence at the close in London trading, the highest in more than two years. FirstRand fell as much 1.89% in Johannesburg trading.

Aldermore raised 226 million pounds in an initial public offer in 2015. The bank is part of a handful of challenger banks trying to poach customers from Britain’s four biggest lenders, which control the bulk of the market, by offering quicker lending decisions and more personalised customer service. – Bloomberg