(Adds details on offering, background)
Feb 6 (Reuters) - Hargreaves Lansdown's largest
investor Peter Hargreaves will sell shares worth about 500
million pounds ($646.60 million) in the British investment
platform via a sale to institutional investors, a bookrunner on
the deal said.
"This is part of a process of long-term financial planning
to diversify my assets. I remain, and will continue to be, a
substantial shareholder in Hargreaves Lansdown," Hargreaves, who
co-founded the firm with Stephen Lansdown in 1981, said.
The sale will come just days after a slowdown in net new
business growth overshadowed an increase in half-year profit for
Hargreaves.
Hargreaves Lansdown did not immediately respond to a request
to comment.
Hargreaves has faced a tough year after funds it backed, run
by independent investment manager Neil Woodford, were suspended
after a liquidity squeeze.
Hargreaves executives waived their full-year bonuses and
also management fees charged to clients which were trapped in
the fund.
Barclays Bank, acting through its investment bank,
is bookrunner and Numis Securities is acting as co-bookrunner
on the sale.
Peter Hargreaves owned 31.59% of the FTSE 100
company as at Jan. 29 according to Refinitiv data.
The sale price of the shares and the final size of the sale
will be decided after the books have closed, the bookrunner
said.
Shares in the Bristol-based company closed 2.7% lower at
1,708.5 pence on Thursday.
($1 = 0.7733 pounds)
(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; editing by
David Evans and Jane Merriman)