9:49 am, December 22, 2021
New documents show Marshall Motor Holdings has acquired an additional Motorline dealership for more than £12m.
The business, which received a £325m cash offer from Constellation Automotive Group earlier this month, bought Tunbridge Wells Audi for £12.1m in November, it’s been revealed.
In a new document submitted to shareholders yesterday (Dec 21) in response to Constellation’s offer, Marshall Motor Holdings (MMH) revealed further details of its £64.5m acquisition of Motorline in October.
It said the buy-out of the dealer group included the option to acquire two additional freehold properties for £24.9m, adding that it bought one of them – Tunbridge Wells Audi – for £12.1m on November 4, 2021.
The document went on to say that the MMH board is now advising shareholders to accept the £325m cash offer from Constellation.
MMH also said the business’s strong performance ‘continued’ into Q4 2021 ‘with the market for used cars, in particular, remaining stronger than previously expected’.
It added that it will change its accounting reference date from December 31, 2021, to March 31, 2022, and that it doesn’t intend to revise its underlying-profit-before-tax expectation of no less than £50m – a statement it made on October 6.
It said the MMH board considered this forecast and agreed it remains ‘valid’.
The document was released as Marshall announced it would be closing the doors, effective immediately, to its Used Car Centre in Cambridge.
The facility on 699 Newmarket Road, Cambridge, is closing due to a ‘strategic review of Marshall’s Used Car Centre representation’, the company said on the showroom’s website.
