A third suitor has approached the owner of the Evans Halshaw and Stratstone with a view to buying the British car dealership business.
Multi-billion dollar Florida-based auto retailer AutoNation Inc is the latest bidder to throw its hat into the ring for Nottingham’s Pendragon Group.
It has offered 32p a share for the business, which values it at almost £450 million. That matches the figure offered last week in a joint approach by PAG International – which owns the prestige Sytner chain – and Sweden’s Hedin Mobility Group.
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That was the second bid from PAG and Hedin (Pendragon’s top shareholder) in a matter of days and followed news that Pendragon wanted to sell Evans Halshaw, Stratstone and CarStore to America’s biggest motor retailer, Lithia Motors, for £250 million.
As part of that deal it will keep hold of its dealer management software arm, Pinewood, while rolling it out to Lithia’s 50 海角视频 sites and North American operations.
In the past few weeks Pendragon shares have almost doubled in value to 29.37p.
In a statement to the London Stock Exchange after the market closed on Tuesday, Pendragon said it had received an unsolicited proposal from AutoNation to buy its entire share capital for cash.
It said: “The AutoNation proposal remains subject to a number of pre-conditions, including the completion of due diligence.
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“The board will consider the AutoNation proposal and will consult with its shareholders and provide an update in due course.
“There can be no certainty that any firm offer will be made, nor to the terms of any such offer. Shareholders are advised to take no action at this time.”
It said under market rules AutoNation was required to announce a firm offer by end of play on October 24.