Luxury car retailer Pendragon has received a fresh takeover offer from its largest shareholder valuing the group at about £400 million.
The UK group, which trades under the Evans Halshaw and Stratstone brands, described the possible cash offer of 29p per share from Sweden’s Hedin Mobility Group as “unsolicited, preliminary and highly conditional”. It follows a previous bid by Hedin in the spring of this year, which the board of Pendragon rejected.
Hedin – which operates more than 200 showrooms across Belgium, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland – currently has a 26 per cent stake in Pendragon. It has been a critic of Pendragon’s board in recent years, particularly on the issue of executive pay.
Shares in Pendragon closed almost 20% higher yesterday, though at 27.2p remained slightly adrift of the potential offer price.
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Pendragon said it is currently considering the proposal and urged shareholders to take “no action at this time”. Hedin has until October 24 to make a firm offer or walk away.
Pendragon reported record profits in March as demand for cars has surged since the lockdown phase of the pandemic. Global semiconductor shortages have led to long wait times for new car deliveries, which in turn has pushed up demand and prices in the used automotive market.
Used car revenues, spearheaded by Pendragon’s CarStore brand, were up 43% on the previous year as the group posted a pre-tax profit of £83m during the 12 months to the end of December. That was up more than 900% from the previous year’s trading.
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Headquartered in Nottingham, Pendragon was formed in 1989 following the demerger of UK conglomerate Williams Holdings. The group now represents 21 different vehicle manufacturers in the retail sector, with more than 160 sites across the UK.
In 2020 Pendragon made an approach to buy rival Lookers in a deal that would have created the UK’s largest car retailing group by a considerable margin. However, a deal failed to materialise after talks broke down.
In January, privately-owned Constellation Automotive – the group behind WeBuyAnyCar and Cinch – bought a near-20% stake in Lookers. The move came after Constellation, which has a multibillion pound valuation, agreed a £200m takeover of Marshall Motor Group, another physical car dealer.
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