Pendragon said to have rejected £400m takeover approach from shareholder

According to Sky News, the Hedin Group - which operates 210 car dealerships in Belgium, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland - made a secret 28p-a-share approach for Pendragon several weeks ago.

It was understood that the approach was not disclosed to Pendragon's investors, and has been rejected by the board, which is chaired by Ian Filby.

Sky said there were suggestions this weekend that Hedin, which owns around 25% of Pendragon, was weighing whether to return with a further offer. Hedin has been a vocal critic of the company’s board in recent times and last year described a bonus payment to chief executive Bill Berman as "out of tune".

Pendragon operates more than 150 dealerships across the UK under the Evans Halshaw, Stratstone and CarStore brands.

At 0810 GMT, Pendragon shares were up 24% at 26.98p.