Audi, BMW dealer confirms rejection of Berjaya’s takeover bid

MANILA, Philippines — The chairman of British luxury car dealer HR Owen Group has confirmed his company rejected a takeover offer from Berjaya Philippines Inc.

Berjaya, which owns nearly 30% of HR Owen, offered to buy another 50% stake, equivalent to 953.98 million shares in the company, for 130 pence per share. Berjaya is the distributor of Mazda in the Philippines.

“The management team’s strategy for growth has been reflected in the strong trading performance by the company over the last 18 months and the board continues to believe that the company has further attractive growth potential, execution plans for which are in place,” said HR Owen’s chairman, Jon Walden, in a disclosure to the London Stock Exchange.

“The board accordingly believes that this offer materially undervalues HR Owen’s business,” he added.

HR Owen’s board said the unsolicited offer from Berjaya was “not in the best interests” of its shareholders.

It said the offer price was only a 7.4% premium to the closing mid-market price of the company’s shares on July 16. Berjaya said the price was a 19.9% premium to the average closing price of HR Owen in the last 3 months.

HR Owen operates sales and aftersales franchises of luxury and specialist cars, including Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Bugatti, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lotus, Maserati, Mini, Pagani and Rolls-Royce.

Berjaya is the local unit of major Malaysian conglomerate Berjaya Corp. Bhd. and is the sole distributor of Mazda cars, parts and accessories in the Philippines. – Rappler.com