Shares in Pinewood Technologies, known as Pinewood.AI, plunged more than 29% to 308.06p after Apax Partners put out a statement on Friday evening to reveal it was walking away from talks.
The private equity firm said: “In light of the prevailing challenging market conditions, Apax confirms that it does not intend to make an offer”.
Talks had first been reported at the end of January, with confirmation that the two sides were discussing a possible 500p-a-share cash offer.
Pinewood put out its own statement on Monday, where the board of the automotive sector software provider said it “remains very confident in the positive long-term prospects for the group”, pointing out that it “occupies a leading position as a mission-critical, full-service, embedded technology provider to automotive retailers and OEMs, benefitting from high recurring revenues and long-standing OEM partnerships”.
Directors also expressed their belief that the company is “well-positioned to continue executing its strategy and to achieve its medium‑term FY28 guidance of underlying EBITDA of £58-62 million”.
Apax said it reserved the right to return with an offer for Pinewood within six months if a third party bids, the board agrees to restart talks or there is some other material change in circumstances.
Pinewood shares hit a two-year high above 550p last September after a North American deal, before dropping back to around 350p at the turn of the year.
** UPDATE: Adds share price details **
finance.yahoo.com
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