Debt collections group Credit Corp (ASX: CCP) has walked away from its pursuit of consumer finance company Humm Group (ASX: HUM) after submitting a materially reduced updated proposal that the company deemed incapable of recommendation to shareholders.
The collapse ends a protracted and acrimonious seven-month takeover saga that drew in the Takeovers Panel, the High Court of Australia and an activist campaign to remove Humm founder Andrew Abercrombie from the board.
It also led to a sharp drop in Humm Group's shares today, pushing them more than 23 per cent lower to 44c.
Credit Corp cites matters identified during due diligence for the reduced offer - matters that the company says the group was "unable to gain comfort on following further discussions with Humm".
Credit Crop first lodged a non-binding indicative proposal on 19 November 2025, offering 77c per share via a scheme of arrangement or 72c per share via an off-market takeover bid.
The offer trumped an earlier 58c-per-share bid from Abercrombie's family office.
Following the takeover offer, Humm's independent board committee (IBC) granted Credit Corp access to due diligence on 16 December 2025, and the two sides entered into a process deed and confidentiality agreement.
But what followed was far from a smooth path to a binding deal. The timeline of events leading to the abandonment reads as a catalogue of escalating disputes, regulatory intervention and corporate dysfunction.
On 19 November 2025, Credit Corp submitted its initial proposal, which Humm's IBC said it was willing to engage with.
Abercrombie, who along with his associated entity The Abercrombie Group (TAG) held a 29.4 per cent stake in Humm, made clear the offer was of no interest to him.
On 16 December 2025, Humm's IBC granted Credit Corp access to a data room for confirmatory due diligence, and the parties executed a process deed governing engagement.
On 20 January 2026, Credit Corp lodged its first application to the Takeovers Panel, alleging that Humm had made misleading ASX announcements about the status of the proposal.
The Panel found that Humm's disclosures gave the misleading impression Credit Corp's proposal was merely "indicative" and conditional on due diligence, when in fact Credit Corp had already been granted due diligence access and was progressing toward a binding offer.
The Panel issued interim orders on 24 January 2026 and final orders on 14 February 2026, requiring Humm to publish a corrective disclosure that accurately described Credit Corp's proposal and the stage of engagement.
On 17 March 2026, Abercrombie and TAG launched a campaign to requisition a general meeting to remove IBC chair Robert Hines, director Teresa Fleming and another independent director from the Humm board - a move the IBC described as an attempt to derail the Credit Corp process.
Credit Corp responded on 25 March 2026 with a second application to the Takeovers Panel, seeking orders to restrain Abercrombie from voting his 29.4 per cent stake at the requisitioned meeting.
Credit Corp argued that Abercrombie's blocking power, combined with his stated opposition to the proposal, created unacceptable circumstances for shareholders who might wish to accept a deal.
The Panel's second decision, handed down in April 2026, found that Abercrombie's conduct - including his public statements that the offer was of no interest and his hope that "not too much time and money would be wasted" on it - combined with his substantial shareholding, did amount to unacceptable circumstances.
The Panel ordered that TAG's voting rights be reduced from 29.4 per cent to 26.4 per cent for any resolutions related to the removal of IBC directors or the Credit Corp transaction.
Abercrombie sought judicial review of the Panel's orders in the High Court of Australia, adding a further layer of legal complexity to the process.
Throughout this period, Humm's IBC maintained that it was engaging constructively with Credit Corp and encouraged the company to submit a binding proposal.
An independent valuation by Flagstaff Partners had placed a control value on Humm with a bottom end above 77c per share - the very price Credit Corp had initially proposed.
The final blow came last Friday evening (19 June 2026), when Credit Corp submitted an updated proposal at a materially lower price than its original 77c-per-share indication.
The updated proposal did not specify the form of consideration. Credit Corp cites matters identified during due diligence that it could not gain sufficient comfort on, though it did not publicly disclose what those matters were.
Humm's IBC responded swiftly, declaring that the materially reduced proposal was not one it could recommend to shareholders.
Credit Corp confirmed over the weekend that it had ceased its pursuit of Humm, stating that despite extensive engagement including due diligence access, it was unable to reach a position where it could put forward a proposal capable of IBC recommendation.
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