9:29 am, December 23, 2022
Inchcape announced today that all conditions for its acquisition of Latin America’s biggest automotive distributor Derco had been met.
Derco has sites in Chile, Peru, Colombia and Bolivia, and in a brief statement issued via the London Stock Exchange this morning, Inchcape said Peruvian authorities gave the thumbs-up to the deal yesterday.
It followed Inchcape’s shareholders approving it last Friday (Dec 16). Completion is now expected to take place by December 31.
Duncan Tait, group chief executive of the global automotive distributor, said today: ‘We are delighted to have received all required shareholder and merger control clearances to complete the acquisition of Derco.
‘The combination with Derco is a transformative and unique opportunity to accelerate our global distribution business.
‘In addition to delivering substantial shareholder value, the acquisition will provide exciting opportunities for our colleagues, OEM partners, dealers and consumers, and is another great example of Inchcape’s Accelerate strategy in action.
‘We are looking forward to welcoming the Derco team into the Inchcape family.’
In an earlier statement, announcing the proposed acquisition, Tait, pictured, said: ‘Derco will dramatically increase our scale in the fast-growth Americas region, bolstering our presence in several existing markets, and will secure Bolivia as a new Inchcape distribution market.
‘Derco also brings a fantastic set of highly complementary OEM relationships, including deepening our decades-long relationship with Suzuki, and broadens our brand footprint in the markets, with Mazda, Changan, JAC, Renault, Great Wall, and Haval.
‘We have long admired Derco’s business, and we are delighted to partner with the del Río family.’
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