Hedin and Penske now raise their takeover after Pendragon shrug off

A second pitch from Anders Hedin and Roger Penske's dealer groups to acquire Pendragon in its entirety has upped their offer from 28p per share to 32p per share.

Pendragon has revealed it has just had another unsolicited proposal from Hedin Mobility Group and Penske Automotive Group, after their first approach earlier this week was thrown out by Pendragon's board.

Now the board says it will consider the revised proposal and will consult with shareholders before providing an update in due course.

A shareholder meeting on October 6 is already scheduled to vote on the original deal which Pendragon's board has agreed with US-based Lithia Motors, which plans to sell all motor businesses to Lithia and leave Pendragon's Pinewood software business as a standalone, continuing publicly-listed company.

Pendragon points out that at this stage there can be no certainty that any firm offer will be made by Hedin and Penske, which have a deadline of October 18 to do so..

Their revised proposal remains subject to a number of pre-conditions, including the completion of due diligence, antitrust approvals and external debt financing.