Panmure Gordon confirms Bob Diamond’s £15.5m takeover

Lossmaking stock broker and investment bank Panmure Gordon has accepted a takeover offer from Bob Diamond’s investment firm Atlas and the investment vehicle of the Qatari royal family, it confirmed today.

Panmure’s directors unanimously recommended the bid of 100p per share, a 68.1 per cent premium to the company’s undisturbed share price which values it at £15.5m.

Atlas Merchant Capital, which was created by the former Barclays chief executive, will control a majority stake in Panmure after the acquisition, with QInvest maintaining its current 43 per cent.

The company has already received commitments to vote in favour of the deal from 60 per cent of shareholders.

Panmure’s name dates back more than a century but it has struggled in recent years, and fell to a £16.7m loss in 2015, the last full year for which it has released results. The company’s shares have dropped more than 60 per cent over the last five years, and have shed more than 95 per cent of their value since the financial crisis.

Tamim Al-Kawari, QInvest chief executive, said:

We have been major investors in Panmure Gordon for more than seven years and are excited about this opportunity to work with Atlas to develop the business, alongside its management team and employees, and to assist it in fulfilling its potential.

Matthew Hansen, Atlas head of UK and Europe, said:

We believe there is significant opportunity for Atlas, in partnership with QInvest, to apply our operational skills and financial services expertise to enhance Panmure Gordon’s strong reputation and build a larger, successful boutique investment bank. This long term stabilisation and development can only realistically be achieved as a private company, out of the glare of the public market and the effects of share price movement.

Panmure Gordon chairman Andrew Adcock said:

The independent Panmure Gordon directors believe that the cash consideration will be attractive in providing Panmure Gordon shareholders with an oportunity to exit at a significant premium t othe current share price. Against the backdrop of a challenging macro-economic environment, with the resultant market volatility which has in recent years impacted Panmure Gordon’s business, the independent Panmure Gordon directors believe that the scheme price reflects a fair and reasonable offer.

Photo: Bloomberg