US suitor raises offer for pawnbroker Ramsdens following shareholder talks

The new offer values the Teesside-based chain at about £232m on a fully diluted basis

The US-based buyer of high street pawnbroking chain Ramsdens has increased its offer for the business.

Investors on the London Stock Exchange were told that FirstCash has revised its bid for Ramsdens following shareholder talks. It now values the Teesside-based firm, which also specialises in jewellery sales and foreign exchange, at about £232m on a fully diluted basis.

The offer represents a 49% premium to Ramsdens share price on June 22, the last trading day before announcement of FirstCash’s original offer. It will see Ramsdens taken off the AIM market, nearly 10 years since its launch on the London Stock Exchange.

FirstCash is an international pawnbroker with around 3,300 sites across the US, South America and the UK, and is listed on the US’s Nasdaq stock market index. It intends to use funding from its US revolving credit facility to finance the acquisition.

Separately, Ramsdens gave a trading update in which it boosted full year profit expectations. The firm now expects pre-tax profits of between £33m-£35m.

It pointed to continued high gold prices – though down 20% since the peak in January this year – and robust demand for pawnbroking loans with June proving to be another record month. In six weeks since reporting the May 2026 loan book figure of £14.5m, the loan book has increased to £15.5m. Bosses also said England and Scotland’s World Cup run had helped boost the foreign exchange business.

Chief executive Peter Kenyon said: “The foundations of the group are strong. We are continuing to trade well, maximising the opportunity of trading with a favourably high gold price but knowing that our diversified financial services are all contributing to the Group’s ongoing success.

“The investment in our new store opening program is going well. Hereford and Skegness have recently opened, Newark and Peterborough are in shop fit and we have completed the lease formalities in Corby and St Helens with shop fitting to start shortly.”