A U. S. car dealership is in complex talks to buy Jardine Motors, one of Britain’s largest car distribution groups, for around £300 million.
Sky News has learned that Lithia Motors, which has a market capitalization on the New York Stock Exchange of more than $6. 5 billion, is about to finalize a deal to buy its U. K. -based counterpart.
A source warned that a deal was still being worked on and could still fall apart.
If successful, Jardine Motors would be sold through Jardine Matheson Holdings, the historic Hong Kong-based conglomerate.
Jardine Matheson has active hotel chains Mandarin Oriental and Hong Kong Land.
Sources said an acquisition would give Lithia a really extensive presence in the UK, alongside luxury car brands such as Ferrari and Maserati.
Lithia is committed to Jardine Motors’ business as a growth platform, they added.
It would be the latest in a series of deals in the sector, with Pendragon recently wrapping up talks on an acquisition through its largest shareholder.
Lithia herself also tried to buy Pendragon last year.
Other big players in the industry come with Lookers, while major online competition like Cazoo has been hit by the global sell-off in tech stocks.
Jardine Motors acquired as East Anglia’s sole racer through Jardine Matheson in the early 1990s.
According to its website, it employs around 2700 people in 50 locations across the UK.
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The brands sold in their dealerships come with Ferrari, Jaguar, McLaren and Porsche.
In response to a request from Sky News on Monday, a Lithia spokesperson said: “Lithia has declared expanding into the UK market and has had discussions with Jardine Matheson to invest in Jardine Motors Group UK.
“Jardine Motors Group UK is one of the UK’s leading automotive workshops and Lithia strongly believes that combining the two businesses will offer a significant price to employees, partners and customers.
“Lithia sees the potential acquisition of Jardine Motors as a platform for long-term expansion in the UK and plans to invest in the business, working with Jardine Motors’ market-leading control team to build on the strong momentum the organisation has generated in recent years. .
“Discussions on a transaction are ongoing and an additional update will be released in due course. “
Jardine Motors has yet to disclose its financial effects for 2022, but has noticed cash at 19% in 2021, with an operating profit of £28 million.
A spokesman for Jardine Motors declined to comment.
It was unclear whether its London-listed parent company would also consider confirmation of the talks.
Rothschild pleaded with Jardine in conversations, while Deloitte pleaded with Lithia.