An American automotive dealership large has clinched a deal to purchase Jardine Motors, one in all Britain’s largest automotive retail teams, for greater than £300m.
Sky News has learnt that Lithia Motors, which has a market capitalisation on the New York Stock Exchange of greater than $6bn, hopes to announce the acquisition of Jardine as quickly as Thursday.
One supply mentioned the worth could be between £300m and £400m.
The deal will see Jardine Motors being offered by Jardine Matheson Holdings, the venerable Hong Kong-headquartered conglomerate.
Jardine Matheson owns property together with the Mandarin Oriental lodge chain and Hong Kong Land.
The takeover will give Lithia a considerable foothold within the UK, with entry to luxurious automotive manufacturers together with Ferrari and Maserati.
Lithia is dedicated to utilizing the Jardine Motors enterprise as a platform for development, insiders informed Sky News in January.
It could be the newest in a string of tried offers within the sector, with Pendragon not too long ago having ended talks a few takeover by its largest shareholder.
Lithia itself additionally tried to purchase Pendragon final yr.
Other massive gamers within the sector embody the likes of Lookers, whereas main on-line opponents corresponding to Cazoo have suffered from the worldwide sell-off in know-how shares.
Jardine Motors was acquired as a single East Anglia dealership by Jardine Matheson within the early Nineteen Nineties.
It employs roughly 2,700 individuals at 50 websites throughout the UK, in keeping with its web site.
Read More:
Jeremy Hunt is ready to ship his first price range – listed below are the issues to look out for
Brands offered at its dealerships embody Ferrari, Jaguar, McLaren and Porsche.
Lithia declined to broaden on an announcement issued to Sky News in January, which mentioned: “Lithia has a stated desire to expand into the UK market and has held discussions with Jardine Matheson with a view to investing in Jardine Motors Group UK.
“Lithia views the potential acquisition of Jardine Motors as a platform for future development within the UK and plans to put money into the enterprise, working with Jardine Motors’ market-leading administration group to construct on the robust momentum the Group has generated lately.
“Discussions around a potential transaction are ongoing and a further update will be issued in due course.”
A Jardine Motors spokesman declined to remark.
Rothschild is advising Jardine on the talks, whereas Deloitte is advising Lithia.
Source: information.sky.com”
