ADL ends Optare interest
ALEXANDER Dennis has abandoned its interest in bus manufacturer Optare after Ashok Leyland refused to consider selling its stake in the business “at any price”.
Glasgow-based Alexander Dennis had considered making a bid after Optare announced last week it had reached a deal that would see Ashok Leyland take a 75% stake in the firm.
However, in a statement this morning, Alexander Dennis said that Ashok Leyland “has no intention of selling its stake in Optare to anyone at any price.”
It continued: “As Ashok holds 26% of the issued share capital of Optare and ADL has been unable to obtain any of the information on Optare requested on 23 December 2011, the board of ADL has concluded that it will not pursue further its possible interest.”
Optare revealed last week it was having difficulties negotiating new banking facilities but had been given the option of accessing credit via Ashok Leyland.
However, a condition of the deal was that Ashok Leyland will take a 75% stake in the business through a substantially discounted share issue.
Optare shares were trading at around 1.37p before the deal was announced. They closed yesterday at 0.6p, up 0.15p following news of the potential Alexander Dennis bid.
