Supercar firm agrees to £43.2m takeover bid

Luxury car dealer HR Owen has succumbed to a sweetened £43.2 million approach from the billionaire owner of Cardiff City.

A model stands beside the Maserati Quattroporte Ermenegildo Zegna at the IAA International Automobile Exhibition in Frankfurt, Germany. Picture: Getty

The firm, which sells marques such as Bentley, Lamborghini, Maserati and Pagani, said yesterday that it had accepted the 170p-a-share bid from Malaysian tycoon Vincent Tan, and urged shareholders to do the same.

A previous bid of 130p was rejected last month after HR Owen said the offer “substantially” undervalued the company, which was founded in 1932.

Tan’s investment vehicle Berjaya Philippines owns or controls almost half of the car dealer’s shares and has given investors until 27 September to accept its offer.

Berjaya has said that HR Owen, which generated a pre-tax profit of £2.3m 
last year on revenues of £243.5m could be rolled out in the Far East and would complement its other businesses, which sell brands including Aston Martin and Mazda.

Tan is one of the world’s richest men and his other interests include media, property and telecoms.