Cinch back on board with £504m Lookers takeover bid
The £504m proposed takeover of Altrincham car dealership group, Lookers, looks inevitable after a major shareholder swung behind the bidder.
Toronto-based Alpha Auto Group, launched its £465.4m bid on June 20, which the Lookers board unanimously recommended shareholders to accept.
However, last month Cinch Holdco, which owns 19.52% of Lookers, withdrew its letter of intent to support the takeover, throwing the process into doubt.
It favoured an increase in Alpha owner, Global Auto Holdings’, offer, from 120p per share to around 130p per share.
Global, the bidco, duly obliged and increased its bid, which the Lookers board has recommended for approval, deeming it “fair and reasonable”.
Lookers also announced that the increased bid would be implemented by way of a recommended takeover offer.
At least 75% of Lookers shareholders need to support the bid for it to succeed.
Today, the bidco announced that Cinch has given it an irrevocable undertaking to accept the latest takeover offer.
It also confirmed that, so far, it has received favourable undertakings of approximately 28.3% of the issued share capital of Lookers as at the close of business on August 1, 2023.
If the 75% threshold is reached, Lookers shares can be delisted. If 90% of shareholders sell, the remaining 10% will be forced to relinquish their holding.
Lookers shares opened trading today (August 2) at 124.60p per share, and moved up, at one stage, to 129.6op.
Alpha Auto Group was founded in 2014 and operates seven sites in the US, as well as 10 in its home market. It is linked to key manufacturers such as Audi, Ford, BMW, Toyota and Mercedes.
