Co-founder sells £550m of Hargreaves Lansdown shares

Hargreaves Lansdown shares fell on Friday after its co-founder, Peter Hargreaves, sold just under 34.4m shares in the company.

Hargreaves sold the shares to institutional investors via an accelerated bookbuild at £16 each, raising gross proceeds of £550m. He had initially wanted to sell £500m worth of shares, but this was upsized due to demand.

Peter Hargreaves said: "The sale of some of my shares in Hargreaves Lansdown 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. I am very proud of the business that I co-founded and helped build."

Following the sale, Hargreaves owns a stake of about 24.3%, down from 32%.

The placing comes just days after Hargreaves Lansdown said in a trading statement that net new business fell 9% in the six months to the end of December to £2.3bn. Pre-tax profit rose 12% to £171.1m, revenue increased 9% to £257.9m and assets under administration grew 22% to £105.2bn.

At 0807 GMT, the shares were down 4.3% at 1,634.00p.