UK's Pendragon agrees to sweetened buyout of UK motor, leasing businesses (updated)

Lithia Motors

02/10/2023 15:05

(Adds background on the deal in paragraphs 3, 4)
       Oct 2 (Reuters) - British auto dealer Pendragon  PDG.L 
said on Monday it had agreed to sell its UK motor and leasing
businesses to Lithia Motors  LAD.N  for a sweetened offer of 397
million pounds ($482.00 million). 
    Lithia Motors had offered 250 million pounds for the
business in September. 
    At the time, the companies agreed on the terms of a
partnership, including the rollout of Pinewood - the British
firm's dealer management software (DMS) business - to Lithia's
existing 50 UK sites, and the creation of a joint venture to
speed up Pinewood's entry into the North American DMS market.
    As part of the deal, Lithia, one of the largest automotive
retailers in North America, will also subscribe to 279.4 million
new ordinary shares in Pendragon for 30 million pounds.
        Last week, Pendragon 
    said
     it had received an unsolicited proposal from AutoNation
 AN.N  for about 447 million pounds.
  
        It came days after the firm's top shareholder, Hedin
Mobility Group, and U.S.-based PAG International sweetened their
joint proposal to buy the company after their previous bid was
rejected.
  
    
    ($1 = 0.8237 pounds)

 (Reporting by Prerna Bedi and Eva Mathews in Bengaluru; Editing
by Pooja Desai)
 ((Prerna.Bedi@thomsonreuters.com; +91 98052 24616;))