Private equity consortium Marlin Bidco is likely to take over Shawbrook Bank following capturing 75.6% of Shawbrook’s shares.
Marlin Bidco is a company jointly owned by funds managed or advised by Pollen Street Capital and funds advised by BC Partners LLP.
Shawbrook’s independent directors state that they continue to believe that the final offer undervalues the bank and its prospects. However, they also concede that, in the event the final offer is declared wholly unconditional, Marlin Bidco will have obtained a very significant level of control of Shawbrook.
This level of control will enable Marlin Bidco to implement its stated intention to take Shawbrook private. Consequently, it is likely that Shawbrook shareholders who do not accept the final offer could, as a result, own a minority interest in an unlisted company. This would significantly reduce the liquidity of Shawbrook shares.
Accordingly, the independent directors, who have been so advised by BofA Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs International, now recommend that shareholders accept the final offer, as the independent directors will now be doing in respect of their own beneficial shareholdings.