Janus Henderson joins opposition to NSF’s £1.3bn Provident bid

Another Provident investor has signalled its intention to oppose a hostile £1.3 billion bid for the company by rival Non-Standard Finance (NSF).

In a letter to Provident Financial Group (PFG) chairman Patrick Snowball, asset manager Janus Henderson said it does not intend to accept NSF’s offer.

Antony Marsden, Janus Henderson’s head of governance and responsible investment, said: “We are supportive of PFG’s existing strategy and recent results suggest they are making good progress towards recovery of the home credit business.

“We have not been convinced of a compelling logic for the combination of NSF with PFG. Therefore we do not think it is in the best interests of our clients for us to accept the offer.”

It follows similar statements from Schroders, Coltrane and M&G, bringing the total declared opposition to 21.6%.

Aberdeen Asset Management, which holds a 3.1% stake in the company, also indicated its intention to oppose the tie-up earlier this week.

Legal and General and Blackrock are also expected to oppose the offer.

NSF, run by former Provident Financial boss John van Kuffeler, tabled the bid with backing from 50% of investors but said it wanted to get 90% of shareholders to support the offer.

NSF has secured the backing of some of its major shareholders including investment guru Neil Woodford, Invesco and Marathon, who together hold a 49% stake in Provident.