The takeover battle at Auction Technology Group has intensified after it released its quarterly results.
ATG, which owns 10 marketplaces and connects auction houses with bidders globally, rejected a fresh takeover approach from its largest shareholder FitzWalter Capital at the start of the week and they have taken aim at one another publicly this morning.
ATG, which has rejected 12 offers from FitzWalter, has previously said it fundamentally undervalues the business. With a deadline of 5pm on 2nd February for any firm and final offer, it said on Monday that it had not received a formal letter setting out the full terms of its indicative £491 million cash offer.
FitzWalter’s adviser Macquarie Capital had confirmed it would not provide one and that the board should make its own assumptions about the conditions attached.
FitzWalter, headquartered in London, said this morning that following discussions with a number of fellow ATG shareholders, it believes that there is inconsistent information between certain shareholders.
It added: “FitzWalter believes that shareholders deserve full and transparent disclosure to inform their assessment of the board’s rejection of FitzWalter’s latest proposal of 400 pence in cash per ATG share announced on 19th January 2026.”
ATG had been seeking instead to dispose of its industrial and commercial division (I&C) business, which enables the sale of machinery such as tractors and was responsible for circa 45% of its FY25 profits. FitzWalter had slammed the decision to not run a formal sales process around the disposal.
This morning ATG confirmed that it had received preliminary expressions of interest to acquire the division, but that these did not progress beyond initial discussions.
FitzWalter has also criticised ATG’s $100m acquisition of US marketplace Chairish, highlighting $15m of transaction and integration costs and renewing its view that the deal damaged shareholder value.
Andrew Gray, partner at FitzWalter Capital, said this morning that the rejection of the latest offer “continues the board’s pattern of failing to engage with FitzWalter in any meaningful way… instead, the board continues to pursue its own agenda, despite the c.44% share price decline in the period following the Chairish acquisition and corresponding destruction of shareholder value over which it has presided”.
However for the three-month period ended 31st December 2025, ATG reported positive trading with pro forma constant currency revenue growth of 7.2%.
Chairish delivered good pro forma revenue growth in the period, it said, with operational synergies on track to deliver an annual run rate of $8m.
“Following Q1 revenue growth, we remain on track for our full-year expectations,” it said. “We expect at a group level revenue growth of 4-5%, on a pro forma constant currency basis, driven mainly by value-added services.”
ATG CEO John-Paul Savant (pictured) said: “ATG has delivered good trading and pro forma revenue growth in Q1, supporting our confidence for meeting our guidance for FY26.
“We can see early signs of progress in our plan; including driving GMV in A&A, increasing our take-rate by monetising our suite of value-added services; and leveraging our seller and buyer audience thereby enhancing our network flywheel.
“We are also seeing encouraging signs from Chairish, with the benefits from being part of ATG contributing to growth. We are confident that ATG has a bright future and will remain a sector leader in both A&A and I&C divisions.”
ATG insisted that it is time for FitzWalter “either to make a proposal which reflects full and fair value, or otherwise allow the business to dedicate its full focus and resources on the execution of its strategy”.