Blow to AIM as pawnbroker Ramsdens snapped up by US giant

Pawnbroker Ramsdens has been snapped up by a US giant in a move that will lead to the firm dropping off London’ junior stock market.

The deal – with Nasdaq-listed Firstcash – valued the retailer at a cool £206m, whilst shareholders are set to receive up to 609p per share as part of the tie-up.

The offer marks a 35 per cent premium over Ramsdens’ latest closing price 454p per share, and a 24 per cent premium over its all-time high closing price of 493 pence, which it notched on on June 3 2026.

The Ramsdens board intends to unanimously recommend that shareholders vote in favour of the deal.

Firstcash boasts a market cap of over $10bn and said it will use the deal to expand its footprint in the UK, after it acquired high street rival H&T last year.

The high street unit has benefited from the boom in gold prices over the last year, with its stock price rising over 60 per cent in 2025 as gold leapt to new records.

Its revenue climbed 62 per cent to £83.7m in the latest financial year, a jump from £51.6m last year.

Jewellery retail was a standout performer with revenue up 26 per cent to £26.1m. This helped pave the way for a whopping 173 per cent surge in pre-tax profit, at a record £16.7m.

The takeover tees Ramsdens up to mark the latest in a long run of delistings from AIM as part of the deal.

Last week, luxury cinema chain Everyman set out plans to drop its London listing over pressure from its shareholders, including an investment firm poised to trigger a takeover bid.

The firm’s stock has shed nearly 80 per cent of its value in the last five years. Its board said it believed that there are further shareholders, accounting for at least 11 per cent of its capital, who want the cinema firm to quit the London Stock Exchange.