Cinch backs out of £465m Lookers takeover
Cinch has withdrawn its interest in a £465m takeover of car dealership chain Lookers, and said it will vote against the move.
The car dealership platform, which owns a majority 19.2% stake in Altrincham-based Lookers, has backed out of plans which would see Canadian group Alpha Auto take control of the chain.
The deal, which was announced in June, valued Lookers at around £465.5m.
At the time of the announcement, Lookers said the deal had the backing of shareholders TDR Capital, Artemis Investment Management, J O Hambro, and Schroders.
If completed, the deal would be passed through Alpha Auto Group’s subsidiary Global Auto Holdings.
In a statement released on the London Stock Exchange on Thursday morning, Lookers said: “The Lookers directors now believe that shareholders representing in excess of 25% of the voting rights of the company intend to vote against the resolutions and therefore that the resolutions are not capable of being passed.”
The group said that if the resolution failed to pass, its directors would still “continue to pursue constructive engagement with all shareholders, including Cinch”.
The owner of WeBuyAnyCar and Cinch bought the 19.9% stake in Lookers in January this year.
Lookers was founded in 1908 and operates from around 150 dealerships.