On the Dash:
- Penske Automotive is going private at a $16.3 billion enterprise value.
- Shareholders will receive $212 per share in cash, an 8.84% premium to Wednesday’s close.
- Closing is expected in the first quarter of 2027, pending shareholder and regulatory approvals.
On Thursday, Penske Automotive Group announced it agreed to be taken private at an enterprise value of about $16.3 billion. Motown Acquisition Corp., an entity owned by Penske Corp. and Mitsui & Co., will acquire the dealer group.
Shareholders outside the Penske and Mitsui investor group will receive $212 per share in cash. The price is an 8.84% premium to Wednesday’s closing price and about 8.6% to the July 21 close, the last trading day before the unsolicited proposal.
Penske Corp. will own about 64% of the company after closing, and Mitsui will own about 36%. The shares will no longer trade on the New York Stock Exchange. However, the deal is not subject to a financing condition.
The company expects to close in the first quarter of 2027. It requires regulatory approvals and shareholder approvals, including a majority of votes cast by unaffiliated stockholders.
A special committee of independent directors unanimously recommended the deal, and the full board approved it. The committee concluded the deal delivers the greatest value to minority shareholders, committee chair David Hoogendoorn said.
Penske Corp. and Mitsui proposed the take-private deal in July, as CBT News previously reported, offering to buy the roughly 28% of shares they did not already own.
“This transaction marks an important next chapter for PAG,” Roger Penske, Chair and CEO of Penske Automotive, said in the announcement.
Penske Automotive shares rose 8.3% at 9:31 a.m. ET Thursday. The stock was up 23% this year through Wednesday, according to Bloomberg.
Dealers face rising vehicle prices and high interest rates that strain many buyers’ ability to afford new models. Dealers could benefit from more parts and service business as customers keep vehicles longer, Bloomberg reported.
