Pendragon to return £20m to investors through share buyback

FTSE 250 car dealership Pendragon on Friday announced an initial share buyback programme to return £20m to investors.

The company, which has spent £20.3m in the last 18 months buying certain properties it has previously leased, said it was continuing to look for further acquisition opportunities.

However, having evaluated a number of potential deals, it found that valuations would not have delivered an acceptable level of return to justify investment.

“The board will continue to pursue organic and acquisitive growth and investment opportunities and evaluate them against the returns generated via the share buyback programme.

“The buyback programme is capable of being stopped and restarted and this flexibility will enable the company to pursue other, higher returning, capital allocation opportunities if they arise. At the end of this share buyback programme, the board will evaluate whether a further programme would be appropriate.”

Pendragon has entered into an agreement with Jefferies, which will implement the programme on its behalf.