BCA set for £1bn takeover
Europe’s largest second-hand vehicle auctioneer, British Car Auctions, is expected to be sold for more than £1bn to a City of London consortium.
British Car Auctions is in advanced talks with Haversham Holdings — a listed consortium that is led by former Stobart Group chairwoman Avril Palmer-Baunack.
It includes some of the City’s biggest investors, among them Invesco, Aviva Investors, Artemis and Schroders.
Haversham confirmed that it was ‘advanced discussions which might lead to a transaction’ on Monday morning. Today, a statement was issued on the London Stock Exchange stating ‘at the request of the company trading on AIM for the under-mentioned securities has been temporarily suspended from 16/03/2015 7:30am, pending an announcement and publication of a document.’
Haversham was set up last year and aims to buy businesses in the UK and European automotive, leasing, engineering or manufacturing sectors.
BCA is owned by Clayton Dubilier & Rice, the US private equity company. BCA would reverse into Haversham, gaining entry to the stock market. CD&R is expected to receive a stake of about 10% in Haversham as part of the deal.
BCA declined to comment.
Source: Financial times
