LONDON: IPF Parent Holdings Limited has reached agreement on the terms of a recommended cash offer to acquire International Personal Finance Plc (IPF).
Under the terms of the acquisition, IPF Shareholders will be entitled to receive 235 pence in cash for each IPF Share.
Eligible IPF Shareholders will additionally be entitled to retain any final dividend which may be declared by IPF in respect of its financial year ended 31 December 2025 up to a maximum final dividend of 9 pence per IPF Share
The terms of the acquisition value the entire issued and to be issued ordinary share capital of IPF at approximately £543 million.
The acquisition is expected to be effected by means of a Court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement between IPF and Scheme Shareholders under Part 26 of the Companies Act, although IPF Parent Holdings reserves the right to effect the Acquisition by way of a Takeover Offer.
Background to and reasons for the Acquisition
· IPF Parent Holdings believes that IPF, since its founding in 1997, has built an attractive and differentiated business model, underpinned by its specialist capabilities, that have enabled it to evolve into a global financial services business.
· As a leading provider of financial services internationally, IPF plays a vital role by providing accessible credit to individuals who are unbanked, underserved, or lack sufficient credit history to adequately participate in the banking ecosystem. IPF Parent Holdings recognises the social importance of this mission and is committed to supporting IPF in its purpose of building a better world through financial inclusion.
· IPF Parent Holdings is attracted to IPF’s track record of establishing specialist lending products and capabilities across nine different geographies. IPF’s distinctive ability to provide both home credit and digital offerings is a highly compelling proposition for their underserved customer base who often have unique credit histories. With its differentiated business model, strong financial foundation and experienced management team, IPF has consistently delivered attractive, sustainable returns, through leveraging its established competitive advantage and close customer relationships. IPF’s long history, spanning nearly 29 years, has led to IPF creating, managing, and now innovating on its scaled customer representative infrastructure.
· IPF Parent Holdings believes that under private ownership, IPF will be better positioned to maximise its future growth potential and financial performance. Operating under BasePoint ownership would allow IPF and its management team to adopt a more flexible approach in setting and executing IPF’s strategy to deepen customer engagement in a sustainable and purpose-led manner, whilst leveraging BasePoint’s resources and expertise. With the benefit of BasePoint’s significant expertise in the sector, alongside IPF’s deep knowledge of its markets, there exists scope to further enhance the existing customer proposition through the development of new products and launches in new geographies while catering to evolving customer and regulatory demands and trends. This could include exploring adjacent offerings that complement IPF’s core lending proposition or innovating within existing product frameworks to enhance value to the customer in an ethical and responsible manner. In parallel, further expansion into regional markets where lending momentum remains strong with a digital-led offering will help in developing the platform for scalable growth. While any such initiatives would require careful evaluation, they could form part of a broader ambition to strengthen competitive positioning and financial inclusion.
· BasePoint also recognises that financial vulnerability, stemming primarily from economic disparities, poses a significant challenge, and that IPF has an important role to play in addressing this issue. In particular, BasePoint intends to support and further develop “Invisibles”, IPF’s flagship community initiative, to reach new invisible groups and make a lasting, positive impact on financially vulnerable people.
· BasePoint has an extensive track record of deploying capital in regulated consumer financial services businesses and leveraging its expertise to help those businesses and their management teams in achieving their strategic ambitions. With its investment and detailed engagement through IPF Parent Holdings, BasePoint and its affiliates will leverage their highly relevant experience and capabilities developed through prior transactions in the consumer finance sector. BasePoint believes that, following the completion of the Acquisition, it will be able to accelerate and enhance the transformation of IPF under BasePoint’s ownership for the benefit of customers, employees and other stakeholders.
International Personal Finance Plc (IPF) is a leading international financial services provider, headquartered in Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK. Established in 1997 as a division of Provident Financial, IPF was demerged and listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2007. IPF is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
IPF specialises in delivering unsecured consumer credit and value-added services to underserved consumers across nine markets: Poland, Hungary, Romania, Czech Republic, Mexico, Australia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. Through its diversified product suite, including home credit, digital instalment loans, credit cards, retail credit, digital credit lines, and a mobile wallet, IPF responsibly serves approximately 1.7 million customers.
Commenting on the Acquisition, Eric Schneider, Chief Executive Officer of BasePoint, said:
“IPF is a business we’ve followed for some time and have been consistently impressed by its positioning across nine different geographies as a leading provider of credit to underbanked and underserved individuals. With our deep experience in consumer specialty finance in the U.S., we believe BasePoint is well placed to help IPF build on its strengths and continue evolving its business model as a differentiated provider of consumer credit. We’re excited and look forward to partnering with the management team to support the next phase of IPF’s growth”
Commenting on the Acquisition, Stuart Sinclair, Chair of IPF, said: “I am proud of the significant progress that IPF has made in our commitment to financial inclusion, making a real difference to the lives of over 15 million customers. Over recent years, IPF has had to navigate significant macroeconomic challenges, competitive forces, an ever-changing regulatory landscape and risks of operating in emerging markets. Throughout this period, the IPF Board and management team have successfully adjusted the business model to remain focused on our core purpose of financial inclusion.
The IPF Board has been considering its options to ensure that the market value better reflects the business’s opportunities and prospects, having consistently traded at a substantial discount to comparable international businesses over the past ten years. Whilst the Board continues to believe in the strategy and long-term prospects of IPF on a standalone basis, we recognise that the acquisition allows IPF Shareholders to monetise their entire investment for cash at a fair price. We believe that the business will benefit from BasePoint’s ownership and its commitment to fulfil IPF’s purpose of building a better world through financial inclusion.
Following careful consideration, the IPF Directors have unanimously concluded that they intend to recommend this offer, considering it to be in the interests of all our shareholders and wider stakeholders.”