£1.6bn deal revs up

We Buy any Car’s owner has rejected a £1.6bn takeover approach from private equity firm apax Partners.

Car auctioneer BCa Marketplace said apax had come forward on March 8 suggesting paying 200p per share.

However, BCa said it had rejected the approach after careful consideration. apax has until 5pm on July 8 to either make a firm offer or walk away.

apax said over the weekend it was considering making a firm offer. BCa sells, markets, buys and transports cars across europe. The company made a profit of £135.6m last year.