Corporate Finance - Deloittes drives new MG deal.
Deloitte and Touche Corporate Finance has completed the second deal in two months for UK car manufacturer MG Rover.
Last week it acted as lead adviser on the Longbridge-based group’s acquisition of Qvale Automotive, the US-Italian sports car group.
In May it advised on the car group’s purchase of Powertrain, the Midland-based engine manufacturer which supplies engines to both Rover and Ford’s Landrover cars.
The Qvale deal is the latest success for the Deloitte team which first came to prominence when it handled the original Rover buy-out from BMW last year following the collapse of negotiations between the German car company and John Moulton’s Alchemy Partners.
In that deal, former Rover director John Towers led the Phoenix consortium which purchased the beleaguered car manufacturer for a nominal £10.
The latest acquisition, handled by Deloitte’s Maghsoud Einollahi, will give Rover the rights to Qvale’s Mangusta sports car, launched last year, but more importantly will give the group access to the US market through Qvale’s distribution network.
Financial terms of the deal have not been revealed, but sources close to the group said there was no question that Rover would run out of cash, having last year secured a financing deal worth #500m when sold off by BMW.
The deal was completed after several months of negotiations between Rover and Qvale’s family owners.
The San Francisco family has had ties with MG going back 60 years when it founded British Motor Car Distributors – at one time the largest US distributor of British-built cars including Austin Healey, Jaguar, Triumph and Rolls-Royce.
As well as picking up the US distribution network, Rover will also get Qvale’s Mangusta assembly plant in Mondena, Italy.
The tie-up with Qvale will give Rover the opportunity to produce its ‘supercar’, the MG X80, which is tipped to appear at next year’s Le Mans 24-hour race.
This year, the car manufacturer teamed up with Lola Cars to take part in the French endurance race.
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Deloitte’s Einollahi is also currently involved in a disposal programme for Coats Viyella, the textile group.
To date the firm has completed around 20 deals and is nearing the end of the process with a further four disposals on the cards.
For more information about Deloitte and Touche go to www.deloitte.co.uk
More on MG Rover and Qvale can be found at www.mg-rover.com
www.qvaleauto.com