Pendragon agrees to Hedin takeover
21 November 2022
Pendragon is poised to be taken private by Hedin Group in a £400m deal. Board members are reported to have agreed to Anders Hedin they will recommend a 29p a share bid to shareholders.
It could be announced as early as today (Monday).
Reports say executives have been finalising the deal over the weekend. This could mean a short extension to the ‘put up or shut up’ deadline could be required before directors’ approval is confirmed.
City sources add the deal could still be gatecrashed by Constellation Automotive, which could launch a rival bid. A deal could attract the interest of competition regulators, but it would still only leave Constellation with 20% of the UK auto retail market.
A rival bid would have to be in the region of 35p a share.
Hedin believes Pendragon can be run more efficiency, say reports. It would bring in its own management team.
It remains to be seen whether Hedin would bring back Trevor Finn. He had a 30-year stint at the company before departing in 2018 after a reported boardroom row.Pendragon, Hedin Group and Constellation automotive all declined to comment.