Eversheds Sutherland advises Lookers plc on its £465.4m recommended takeover

Eversheds Sutherland is advising British car dealership giant Lookers plc (Lookers) on its £465.4m recommended takeover by privately owned Canadian car dealer group Alpha Auto Group (AAG).

Lookers, which traces its history back to 1908, has a total of 147 franchise dealerships across the UK. It recently delivered impressive trading performances, exceeding expectations with £4.3bn of revenues in its last full year results.

Toronto-based AAG was founded in 2014, and has grown to become one of the largest auto retailers based in Canada, operating 15 large scale vehicle dealerships. The car dealer offered 120p per share – a price that represents a substantial 35.3 per cent premium to Lookers’ share closing price of 88.7p (19 June).

The Eversheds Sutherland team, led by corporate and client relationship partner for Lookers, Alistair Cree, comprised corporate partner Stephen Nash and employee incentives partner Danny Blum. Assistance was provided by principal associate Lee Harris, senior associate Paul Jackson and associate Edward Forshaw.

Eversheds Sutherland has been advising Lookers, on a full service basis, for more than a decade.

The deal is expected to be concluded in late Q3 or early Q4 this year.

Alistair Cree, Eversheds Sutherland, commented:

“Another wonderful, collaborative team effort, which we’re thrilled to have been part of. We’ve had the pleasure of building a strong working relationship with Lookers over many years, which has been integral in helping us deliver on this milestone project. We look forward to continuing to build on that success.”

Mark Raban, Chief Executive, Lookers plc, commented:
“The announcement today marks a significant day for Lookers plc. Many thanks to Ali, Steve and the rest of the Eversheds team for helping us get to this point – first class advice.”