Pinewood Technologies Group PLC (LSE:PINE, OTCQX:PINWF, FRA:0PD0) has agreed a £545 million cash takeover by a private equity firm, the latest London-listed company to be picked off as buyers hunt for value across the UK market.
The automotive software group, which trades as Pinewood.AI, will be acquired by UK Piston Bidco, a vehicle backed by Ridgeview Partners, the San Francisco technology private equity firm.
Shareholders will receive £4.48 in cash for each share, valuing the Birmingham-based company at around £545 million on a fully diluted basis.
The shares rose 4% to 444p, settling just below the offer price as the market priced in a high likelihood of completion.
The price is a 43% premium to Pinewood’s undisturbed close of 314p on 23 July, before bid interest emerged, and a 64% premium to its three-month average.
Board backing and shareholder support. Investors holding almost half the company have already backed the deal, including Lithia, the US car dealer that owns close to 32%.
Shareholders can instead roll a portion of their holdings into unlisted stock in the bidder, an option capped at £250 million and carrying no board recommendation.
The takeover is structured as a scheme of arrangement and is expected to complete in the second half of 2026.
Pinewood provides cloud software to car dealerships and manufacturers, and was spun out of the 2024 break-up of the dealer group Pendragon.
Ridgeview argues the company needs a step change in spending on data and artificial intelligence, particularly to expand in North America, which is easier away from public markets.
The deal follows an aborted approach from the private equity group Apax Partners, which walked away earlier in 2026 citing difficult market conditions.
A market being picked off
It also fits a wider pattern of foreign and private equity buyers targeting undervalued British companies.
The value of UK takeovers this year is already running at roughly double the 2025 total, according to the investment platform AJ Bell, with deals arriving at more than one a week.
Recent targets span the market, from the testing group Intertek, subject to a £9.4 billion approach from Sweden’s EQT, to the asset manager Schroders and the insurer Beazley.
The common thread is valuation, with UK shares trading at a persistent discount to US and European peers after years of outflows from the London market.
Private equity firms are also sitting on more than £1 trillion of uncommitted capital, known as dry powder, adding pressure to deploy it before returns are due to investors.
The average premium on this year’s agreed UK deals has been about 45%, reflecting how far bidders judge public valuations to sit below fair value.
Whether public market investors follow the buyers remains the open question.
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