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Investor group TDR Capital, which owns Constellation Automotive, has taken a 3.1% stake in Vertu Motors.
The move will be watched with great interest. While the stakes are small and Constellation isn’t affecting Vertu’s running, it could be the start of another round of activity in listed dealer stock.
In 2021, Constellation approached Marshall Motors’ largest shareholder, Marshall of Cambridge, with a 400p per share offer for the group. The deal received the green light from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in May 2022.
In January last year it purchased 78 million shares of Looker, representing approximately 19.9% of the company’s issued common share capital.
Constellation already has car wholesale BCA Auctions, car buying operator webuyanycar and cinch online used car platform.
The constellation’s inception comes at a time of intense interest in the plc group.
In 2022 European group Hedin Mobility made a bid for Pendragon but after due diligence left, citing economic conditions. It still has a major stake in the UK dealer group.
Lithia, a listed US dealer group had previously bid for Pendragon in a deal that was blocked by Hedin. Lithia is currently bidding for Jardine Motors
By 2022 Hedin had pounced on four factory-owned Mercedes-Benz dealerships in the UK.
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