Monday, April 14, 2008
Pendragon gets billionaire investor
Pendragon could be poised for an overhaul after it emerged that billionaire investor Jack Petchey has been secretly amassing a 13 per cent stake in the UK’s largest dealer group.
According to the Daily Telegraph, the 82-year-old is believed to have acquired his stakehold using contracts for difference (CFDs), which do not have to be declared as conventional investments normally are.
Petchey is known as an activist shareholder and Pendragon's recent poor trading has prompted speculation the group could be poised for a shake-up. Shares in Pendragon have fallen by 70 per cent over the last year and some sections of the finance industry believe its stock is undervalued.
The report suggested Petchey may pressurise the Pendragon board to pursue a merger, change its business model or raise equity from its property assets. He is already involved in the automotive retail sector and owns a 4.5 per cent stake in rival group Lookers - a former £259m takeover target of Pendragon's.
DATED: 14.04.08
FEED: MT
According to the Daily Telegraph, the 82-year-old is believed to have acquired his stakehold using contracts for difference (CFDs), which do not have to be declared as conventional investments normally are.
Petchey is known as an activist shareholder and Pendragon's recent poor trading has prompted speculation the group could be poised for a shake-up. Shares in Pendragon have fallen by 70 per cent over the last year and some sections of the finance industry believe its stock is undervalued.
The report suggested Petchey may pressurise the Pendragon board to pursue a merger, change its business model or raise equity from its property assets. He is already involved in the automotive retail sector and owns a 4.5 per cent stake in rival group Lookers - a former £259m takeover target of Pendragon's.
DATED: 14.04.08
FEED: MT
