(Reuters) -British car dealership Lookers said on Thursday that shareholders representing about 25% of its voting rights intended to oppose a proposed acquisition by Global Auto Holdings and the deal was unlikely to succeed.
“In the event that the resolutions (related to the proposed deal) do not pass, as the Lookers directors now expect, the scheme of arrangement will lapse and Lookers will remain an independent listed company,” the British firm said in an updated statement following an initial disclosure before the market open.
Shares in Lookers declined further after the second statement, sliding as much as 17.1% to 98.8 pence, and were trading about 15% down as of 0916 GMT.
Last month, Global Auto Holdings, an entity related to privately-owned Canadian car dealer network Alpha Auto Group, said it would buy Lookers for about 465.4 million pounds ($601.3 million) in cash, pending shareholder approval.
Court and general meetings to seek approval for the proposed deal are scheduled to be held on July 27.
Earlier on Thursday, Lookers said it was in talks with some of its investors to assess how they would vote after top shareholder Cinch Holdco UK said it would oppose the deal.
Global Auto Holdings said in a separate statement on Thursday that Cinch had withdrawn its letter of intent and intended to vote against the acquisition.
Lookers said it would continue to “pursue constructive
engagement” with all shareholders, including Cinch, which holds a stake of 19.52% in the London-listed company.
($1 = 0.7739 pounds)
(Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil and Chandini Monnappa in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil, Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Sharon Singleton)
