Swiss-based Teleios Capital has increased its grip on troubled retail group Pendragon to just over 19 per cent.
An announcement made on the London Stock Exchange today said the independent investment firm had upped its stake by just under a percentage point from 18.09 per cent to 19.05 per cent, inching it closer to one-fifth ownership of the chain, which last week reported a post-tax loss of £117.4m for 2019.
Established in 2013, Teleios focuses on publicly traded European mid-cap companies and said it looked to hold minority positions with them for the long term.
Pendragon, which trades under the Evans Halshaw and Stratstone brands, has been struggling over the past year.
Last June, newly installed chief executive Mark Herbert quit out of the blue after only being in the role for less than three months, then in September the company said some 300 jobs would go, with the closure of 22 Car Stores and a preparation centre, after it published a post-tax loss of £129.6m for the six months to June 30. A second preparation centre was also subsequently closed.
New chief executive Bill Berman was appointed last month after joining Pendragon as a non-executive director in April 2019 and has been its interim executive chairman since October.