Troubled outsourcer Quindell (LON:QPP) will be rueing its bad luck today after Nationwide Accident Repair Service (LON:NARS) was sold for £43.2mln to US buyout firm Carlyle.
In a buyout chain, NARS itself bought the tenth largest body shop chain in the UK today, Seward Accident Repair Centres, for a total net cash consideration of £3.8mln.
The Carlyle deal, worth 100p per share, is 13% higher than yesterday’s closing price and will net boss Michael Wilmshurst £1.3mln for his 3% stake.
Chairman of NARS Michael Max said: “This Offer enables Nationwide shareholders to realise value today in cash for their shares at a significant premium to the recent historical share price.”
Earlier this month, Quindell sold its 10.9 million shares in the company for just 65p a share, netting just over £7mln.
The news comes after shares in Quindell had to be suspended earlier today “pending the release of a document”.
No further details were provided, although reports have emerged the suspension relates to a mistake discovered in a recent RNS.