Australia's FleetPartners gets $582 million bid as Sumitomo-led group joins race

By Sameer Manekar and Rajasik ‌Mukherjee

Aug 26 (Reuters) - ​FleetPartners said ​on Wednesday it had received an A$813.1 million ($582.3 million) offer from a consortium led by Japan's Sumitomo Corp, making it the ‌fourth bidder for the Australian vehicle leasing firm in less than ⁠a month.

The competing bids underscore the appeal of FleetPartners' fast-growing novated leasing business, which accounted ‌for nearly a fifth of ‌operating earnings in fiscal 2025 and has benefited from tax incentives for eligible electric vehicles.

Novated leasing lets employees finance a car through their employer and ​potentially reduce income tax.

"Four separate international bidders indicate FleetPartners has genuine franchise value that matches global fleet consolidation trends," said Emanuel Ajay Datt, managing ⁠director at Datt Capital.

The Sumitomo-led group joined Japan's ORIX, Pacific Equity Partners (PEP)-backed SG Fleet and Canada's Element Fleet ​in pursuing FleetPartners, one of Australia's largest vehicle leasing providers.

The Sumitomo Corp-Sumitomo Mitsui Auto Service consortium offered FleetPartners shareholders A$3.85 ​per share in cash, a 34% premium ‌to the stock's close on July 31, before the bidding war began.

That topped the bids of A$3.80 per share from ORIX ⁠and Element Fleet, but trailed SG Fleet's A$4.00 proposal, which the PEP-backed company raised two weeks ago after an initial approach was rejected.

"With four bidders now circling, we ⁠expect the process to clear A$4.00 driven by strategic synergies rather than pure financial arbitrage," ​Datt said.

The competing approaches also highlight continued interest from foreign investors and private equity firms in Australian-listed companies, particularly in the financial services sector.

Shares of FleetPartners were trading nearly 1% lower, ‌as of 0517 GMT, after surging nearly 50% in just over three weeks since SG Fleet launched its takeover ‌approach on August 3.

The company has granted the Sumitomo consortium initial, limited access to ⁠commercial and financial due diligence as ‌it continues to engage ​with the other suitors.

($1 = 1.3965 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Sameer Manekar & Rajasik Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo, Subhranshu Sahu and ‌Rashmi Aich)

---

Serious News for Serious Traders! Try StreetInsider.com Premium Free!

---

You May Also Be Interested In

• Intel (INTC) PT Lowered to $92 at Mizuho
• Samsara Inc (IOT) Tops Q2 EPS by 4c, Beats on Revenue; Offers Q3 Guidance
• Guidewire shares tumble on weak first quarter guidance