FirstRand’s acquisition of UK-based Aldermore gets green light
A court has approved FirstRand’s R20bn acquisition of UK-based specialist lender Aldermore, with the expectation that Aldermore will be de-listed from the London Stock Exchange on Wednesday. FirstRand intends to make Aldermore its fifth franchise‚ adding to First National Bank‚ WesBank‚ RMB and Ashburton. It plans to unbundle MotoNovo‚ its UK asset financier‚ from WesBank and merge it with Aldermore. The branding of Aldermore will be retained, while MotoNovo loans through existing funding mechanisms will be run down. Aldermore provides asset finance, invoice finance, and mortgage and deposit products to small and medium-sized enterprises, homeowners, landlords and savers. The unbundling of MotoNovo is expected to free up funding and liquidity capacity, which would be deployed into the group’s South African and African operations. FirstRand announced in November that Aldermore’s board had accepted its offer of £3.13 per share, valuing the bank at £1.1bn. Aldermore’s shares surged 20%...
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