Penske Automotive is set to leave the public markets after accepting a $212-per-share cash offer from Motown Acquisition Corp., a vehicle jointly controlled by Penske Corp. and Mitsui & Co. The price tags the enterprise value at $16.3 billion, an 8.8% lift over the prior day's close. The buyer group told the company's board back in July that it wanted to take the dealer private, and the parties now expect the transaction to complete in the first quarter of 2027 without any need for a financing contingency.
Penske Corp. is the privately held transportation services company founded by Roger Penske; he also heads Penske Automotive.
Penske Corp. and Mitsui currently hold roughly 72% of the outstanding common shares. If the deal closes, the resulting private company would be owned 64% by Penske Corp. and 36% by Mitsui.
The funding mix includes as much as $2.2 billion of equity from the buyers together with up to $1.8 billion of borrowings. JPMorgan, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo lined up a bridge loan that could be taken out with bonds or by tapping an already established credit line. The special board committee reviewing the Penske Automotive transaction is being counseled by Moelis & Co., and Penske Corp. has BofA Securities, JPMorgan Securities, and Wells Fargo Securities as its advisers.
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At 9:31 a.m. in New York on Thursday, Penske Automotive was higher by 8.3%, and the stock had climbed 23% for the year through Wednesday. Auto retailers are feeling the squeeze from higher vehicle prices and elevated interest rates that make new cars tougher to afford. That backdrop could slow new-car sales, but it often pushes more drivers to keep their vehicles longer, which can bolster parts and service revenue. If Penske leaves the ticker tape, you lose one public bellwether for that dynamic, but the same consumer pressures will still show up in other dealers' numbers.
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