Hargreaves Lansdown’s chief financial officer Amy Stirling is to leave the business after the imminent takeover of the company goes through.
She informed the recently that she wishes to step down after three years with HL.
Her departures follows the sanction of the scheme of arrangement for the takeover by the court yesterday and the planned delisting of HL from the London Stock Exchange on 25 March.
The company says recruitment is under way for a new CFO and Ms Stirling will remain with the business during the transition phase to ensure continuity and to allow for a successor to be appointed and a “thorough handover.”
The board thanked her for her work in driving business transformation. She joined the company in February 2022 and was the former CFO at the Virgin Group.
Board chair Alison Platt said: “HL has seen tremendous change over the course of the last 3 years, throughout which Amy has steered the business with a steady hand, driving our performance and transformation, with a focus on building relationships with investors and all our stakeholders alike.
“As we transition from public into private ownership, I would like to thank Amy on behalf of the board for the very significant contribution she has made. We understand her decision to step down and on behalf of the board, I wish her all the very best for the future."
CEO Dan Olley said: "Amy has been instrumental to our progress and a great driver and champion of all that makes HL successful. She will leave us a better business as a result of her guidance and leadership, for which I am enormously grateful."
The acquisition of platform provider Hargreaves Lansdown is due to be completed on Monday when HL will be taken into private ownership and its shares delisted from the LSE. The company is being bought by a private equity-led consortium for £5.4bn.
Hargreaves Lansdown accepted the £5.4bn consortium offer for the company in August last year. The consortium comprises CVC, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Nordic Capital, who hold equal weighting in the deal.
Bristol-based HL is one of the UK’s biggest direct to consumer investment platforms with £150bn in assets under administration and 1.858m active clients (April 2024 figures).
The cash offer was originally made on 18 June 2024 but was pushed back three times. The full price being paid for HL's entire issued shares is approximately £5.443bn.
Bristol-based Hargreaves Lansdown, set up by entrepreneurs Peter Hargreaves and Stephen Lansdown, will be acquired by a new investment vehicle called Harp Bidco Limited. Harp Bidco is a new company which is indirectly owned by CVC Private Equity Funds, Nordic Capital XI Delta, SCSp (acting through its general partner, Nordic Capital XI Delta GP SARL) and Platinum Ivy B 2018 RSC Limited.
Hargreaves has seen changes to its senior management team in recent times and faced criticism for poor share price performance. Alison Platt replaced Deanna Oppenheimer as chair of the board in February after Ms Oppenheimer unexpectedly quit in November after activist investors threatened to vote against her re-appointment at the December AGM.
Some investors have been unhappy with the firm’s share price performance, including one of HL's founders, Peter Hargreaves. Deanna Oppenheimer served as chair for six years during which time the share price fell from a peak of 2,419p in May 2019 to 706p by the time she quit. In early trading today, Hargreaves Lansdown shares were trading at 1,107p.