(Adds information from Mail on Sunday)
LONDON (AFX) - Pendragon PLC, the British car dealer that last week made a 258 mln stg hostile bid for smaller rival Lookers PLC, is planning to continue its spending spree until it controls at least 10 pct of the country's new car market, reported the Sunday Telegraph.
Pendragon is finalising its 506 mln stg takeover of Reg Vardy PLC. That deal will lift its market share by two points to 5 pct. The acquisition of Lookers would give the company a 6 pct share.
'In the near term we would like to see Pendragon with 10 pct of the UK market,' Pendragon chief executive Trevor Finn told the paper.
He pointed out that a change in the law which swept aside the motor industry's exemption from normal competition rules (called the block exemption) was behind the wave of consolidation.
'It is a 100 bln stg-a-year industry and it is very fragmented but in 10 years' time there'll be four or five big dealerships,' he said.
'This is still the beginning of the consolidation, not the end of it,' he added, 'and we are emerging as the clear market leader.'
The Mail on Sunday claimed Pendragon's hostile bid for Lookers may be in some doubt following news that GE Capital, Lookers' biggest shareholder with a 25 pct stake, is set to snub the 'take it or leave it' offer. rob.branch@afxnews.com rhb/cml COPYRIGHT Copyright AFX News Limited 2005. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News. AFX News and AFX Financial News Logo are registered trademarks of AFX News Limited