2:50 pm, June 1, 2026
A mystery buyer has snapped up a 7.5% stake in listed car dealer group Vertu Motors.
The deal saw fund manager Schroders sell its holding in the company in an off-book deal at a price of 84p per share.
The price was a 30% premium over the 64p price the listed business had been trading at prior to the announcement.
The transaction saw 23.2m shares change hands at a value of more than £20m and helped move the car dealer group’s share price considerably.
The ‘off book’ trade took place just before lunchtime on Friday and the premium price suggests the buyer was highly motivated to complete the deal.
The deal saw the share price leap to a high of 75.6p on Friday after the mystery transaction took place as retail investors followed suit.
Today, shares in Vertu – run by Robert Forrester, pictured – are still trading at 70.5p valuing the company at around £220m.
Paying a 30% premium for such a large block of stock is unusual and has fuelled speculation that the purchaser may have strategic rather than purely financial motives.
The buyer of the shares is unknown, but rumours are swirling it could be Constellation Automotive Group that could be behind the purchase.
The owner of Marshall Motor Group, Cinch, We Buy Any Car and BCA has been building its stake in the listed business following a similar pattern in previous businesses.
Constellation made a £22.6m profit from its share holding in Lookers when it was taken private.
One source said: ‘The buyer has not been revealed, but we suspect that very soon an announcement will be made that it’s Constellation behind the purchase.’
Constellation already owns a 10.5% stake in Vertu. Car Dealer has contacted the firm for comment.
If Constellation is behind the purchase it is likely to have to disclose its increased holding to the market via a TR-1 notification. Such disclosures are generally made within two trading days of a threshold being crossed, meaning investors will be watching closely for any announcement this week.
