Penske Corp and Mitsui have made a $3.8 billion offer to take US-based car retail giant Penske Automotive Group private.
The controlling shareholders have offered $210 per share in cash for the dealership group which owns the AM100’s largest dealer group Sytner in the UK, according to a regulatory filing reported by Reuters.
Japanese trading house Mitsui said the estimated acquisition cost for the two companies would be US$3.8 billion.
Private ownership bid
Penske Corp owns more than 52% of Penske Automotive Group, while Mitsui holds more than 20%.
In a statement, Penske Automotive Group said its board “has established a special committee comprised of disinterested and independent directors to review and consider the proposal”.
It added: “There can be no assurance as to whether an agreement relating to any proposed transaction will be reached or as to the terms thereof if an agreement is reached. The company does not intend to comment further or disclose any developments regarding the Proposal unless and until it deems further disclosure is appropriate or required. The company’s shareholders do not need to take any action at this time.”
The proposal would take one of the world’s largest publicly listed automotive retail groups private, at a time when dealership groups continue to attract investor interest because of recurring service revenue, scale benefits and ongoing sector consolidation.
Penske Automotive Group operates dealerships in the US, UK, Canada, Germany, Italy and Japan, as well as commercial vehicle, engine, power systems, parts and service operations, mainly in Australia and New Zealand.
UK dealer footprint
Penske Automotive Group’s UK presence includes Sytner Group, whose trading brands include Sytner, Sytner Select (formerly known as CarShop), Graypaul, Maranello, and Agnew Cars in Northern Ireland.
AM100 retail group Sytner grew its franchised retail footprint in 2022 with the acquisition of five Mercedes-Benz Retail Group dealerships in the OEM’s North London territory.
It also added a trio of BMW and Mini dealerships with the acquisition of Stevenage-based Specialist Cars and rebranded Guy Salmon’s network of 17 Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) dealerships as part of a £164m investment in the British car brands’ retail network.
With its 2023 acquisition of Rybrook, the AM100 leader now owns a sixth of the entire UK network of BMW and Mini dealerships.
It was Sytner’s largest expansion with franchised dealerships since its 2012 takeover of Isaac Agnew Group in Northern Ireland.
Penske now owns around 140 Sytner dealerships and more than 20 CarShop sites in the UK.
The global business was founded as United Automotive Group in 1990 and came under the control of Roger Penske’s private holding company, Penske Corp, in 1999.
Mitsui first invested in the company in 2001. United Automotive Group was renamed Penske Automotive Group in 2007.
Ensure you always receive AM insights. Make us a preferred source of news on Google