| Pendragon has sights on smaller rival Reg Vardy |
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LONDON: Britain's car dealer Reg Vardy Plc. has disclosed that it has received a 420-million-pound acquisition offer from rival Pendragon Plc. Sunderland-based Reg Vardy said in spite of the offer being unsolicited, it is in talks. The value quoted is at 750 pence a share.
Analysts are of the opinion that a Reg Vardy-Pendragon combination can create a company with a market cap of 1 billion pounds with annual sales exceeding 5 billion pounds. It can also have a combined annual profit of 100 million pounds.
The Nottingham-based Pendragon is Britain's No 1 dealership with some 236 franchises. It is the only retailer of Cadillacs in Britain and the biggest distributor of Harley Davidson motorcycles outside America. Led by Trevor Finn and chaired by takeover specialist Sir Niger Rudd, it has a good track record of integrating deals.
It had bought CD Bramall for 230 million pounds in cash last year. For the year ended December 2004, it had a reported profits of 65 million pounds on sales of 3.2 billion pounds. But, it is largely unrepresented in the north east.
Reg Vardy has some 100 dealerships concentrated in the north east. Group chief executive Sir Peter Vardy has a personal family holding of 28 per cent in the company. It reported profits of 43.8 million pounds on sales of 1.72 billion for the year ended April 2005.
The company had taken a charge against its MG Rover dealership after the company became bankrupt while there had been an exceptional gain from property sales and a VAT settlement claim. It mainly deals in cars including BMW, Citroen and Fiat.
Posted
on : Thu, 17 Nov 2005 16:15 GMT | Business News
By : Mike Lawson
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