Shareholder stalls AA takeover

THE AA’s biggest shareholder has slammed the brakes on a takeover of the breakdown company after calling the £219m price tag ‘derisory’.

London-based i nvestor Albert Bridge Capital has said it plans to oppose the 35p- per- share deal proposed by private equity firms Towerbrook Capital and Warburg Pincus, which has been recommended by the AA’s board.

A deal needs 75pc shareholder approval, meaning Albert Bridge with its 20pc stake has a huge say.

US hedge fund Davidson Kempner, with a 16pc stake, has already given its blessing to the deal.

In a letter to shareholders, Albert Bridge’s chief investment officer Drew Dickson said the private equity deal ‘fundamentally undervalues’ the AA, The Sunday Telegraph reported.

He added that the breakdown firm’s share price had been ‘artificially and exaggeratedly depressed’ by the pandemic.

The 35p-per-share price is an 86pc cut to the company’s 250p price when it floated in 2014.