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FitzWalter Capital raises buyout bid for UK’s Auction Technology to $658 million

By Thomson Reuters Jan 16, 2026 | 5:45 AM

Jan 16 (Reuters) – Investment firm FitzWalter Capital raised its possible cash offer for Auction Technology ‍Group to 400 pence per share on Friday, after the British online auction operator’s board rejected previous proposals as undervaluing the business.

The new ‌offer price would value ‌Auction Technology at 491 million pounds ($658.43 million).

London-based FitzWalter, which holds more than 21% stake in ATG, has made 11 ​takeover approaches since talks started in September. Earlier this month, ‍Auction Technology rejected ​its 360-pence-per-share proposal and ​called the approaches “opportunistic”.

ATG shares, which lost ‍nearly half of their value in 2025, jumped 15% after FitzWalter’s latest bid was disclosed.

“Our proposal would give shareholders certainty to realise ‍a cash offer at an attractive premium, compared to trusting a board that has ‍consistently ‍failed to deliver shareholder ​value,” FitzWalter partner Andrew ​Gray ⁠said in a statement.

Auction ‌Technology did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

($1 = 0.7457 pounds)

(Reporting by Raechel Thankam Job and Rishab Shaju in Bengaluru; Editing by ⁠Shilpi Majumdar)