Takeover bid by Brierley for Yellow Brick Road

The Mark Bouris-chaired Yellow Brick Road has received a takeover bid from veteran corporate raider Sir Ron Brierley's Mercantile Investment Company.

Mercantile advised it was offering to buy Yellow Brick Road for 9c a share in cash - a 3.2 per cent discount to where the stock traded before the bid was made.

Bouris said the bid was “opportunistic.”

He advised shareholders to take no action.

Mercantile owns almost 20 per cent of the poorly performing YBR.

"YBR shareholders who accept this offer will no longer be exposed to the risks and uncertainties of remaining a YBR shareholder," the Mercantile statement said.

"Mercantile OFM and its associates are disappointed with the financial performance of YBR. Mercantile OFM and its associates first acquired a relevant interest in YBR in November 2016, paying $0.145 per YBR share. Since then, the YBR share price has declined by 35.9 per cent," the statement said.

After Mercantile, which holds 19.9 per cent of YBR, the next largest shareholders are Bouris' Golden Wealth Holdings, which has an 18 per cent stake, and the Nine Entertainment Group, which holds 17 per cent.

Yellow Brick Road Holdings Limited says it is on track to become the leading non-bank financial services company in Australia by 2020.

Mr Bouris said the bid was "opportunistic in its nature, timing, pricing."