Pinewood Technologies agrees to GBP545 million private equity buyout
Pinewood Technologies Group PLC on Wednesday said it has agreed to a takeover offer from a US private equity vehicle which values the company at £545 million.
The Birmingham, England-based firm, a software provider for automotive sellers has accepted an offer for 448 pence in cash per share, worth £545 million in total, which also gives investors a rollover alternative.
The offer price matches the price Pinewood had reported last month, when it said it was "minded to recommend" a possible offer by Ridgeview Partners LLC.
It represents a premium of roughy 43% to Pinewood's closing share price of 314 pence on July 23, the day before the company entered an offer period.
Pinewood shares rose 4.0% to 444.22 pence each on Wednesday morning in London, for a market capitalisation of £511.3 million. The stock has fallen 16% over the past year.
The rollover option enables Pinewood shareholders to receive an unlisted unit in Rollover Holdco for each Pinewood.AI Share held, with respect to all or part of their stake in Pinewood.
The total value of rollover units available is capped at £250 million.
Pinewood's directors have unanimously backed the takeover, and committed a 0.17% stake in favour of the deal. In total, the offer has commitments of support from Pinewood shareholders with a 48.68% combined stake.
Pinewood expects the takeover to close in the second half of 2026.
The buyer is UK Piston Bidco, a new vehicle formed by entities under the administration of Ridgeview, a San Francisco-based private equity firm.
According to Pinewood, "Ridgeview has a differentiated combination of investment and operating expertise that it leverages to help companies accelerate value creation".
According to Pinewood, support from Ridgeview "will include plans to help accelerate Pinewood.AI's growth strategy across all of its markets, including its home market of the UK, and the continued expansion of Pinewood.AI's cloud-native, AI-first, mission-critical software platform across North America."
Pinewood Chief Executive Bill Berman added: "I am extremely proud of everything we have achieved since Pinewood.AI became a standalone technology business in 2024. We have created a strong platform for future growth and we are confident in the significant global opportunities ahead, particularly in North America.
"Realising the full potential of the business now requires continued investment, innovation and execution at scale, and we know that Ridgeview is the right partner to support us through this next exciting chapter."
News of the takeover follows a strong earnings print for Pinewood back in April, when the company reported that annual profit had surged to £49.7 million in 2025 from £8.2 million. At the time, Pinewood reaffirmed its medium-term target of £58 million to £62 million in underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation by 2028.
In March, however, the company had reported delays in the roll-out of its "Pinewood.AI" system with Marshall Motor Group.
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