LendingClub Brushes Off Unsolicited Offer From IEG For Stake

Online lender LendingClub Corp. said Friday it received a letter last week from consumer-lending company IEG Holdings Corp. stating IEG's intention to buy up to 9.99% of the LendingClub's shares on the basis of two shares of IEG stock for each share of LendingClub stock, a 38% discount to the current price of LendingClub's stock. There's no "rational economic basis" for LendingClub stockholders to accept the exchange offer, which "appears intended to mislead investors into mistakenly tendering into a deeply discounted offer," LendingClub said in a statement. The offer is "grossly inadequate," and LendingClub urged stockholders "not to be misled into tendering into the offer, if and when it is made," it said. Shares of LendingClub were recently down 0.6% after ending the regular session up 1.1%.