Saudi firm offers $800m for Ateco Group

A Saudi Arabian firm has offered $AU800 million ($NZ854 million) for the acquisition of Ateco Group, started New Zealand-born businessman Neville Crichton.

Abdul Latif Jameel, owner of the largest vehicle distribution company in Saudi Arabia, is now in the process of making the offer binding by cooperating with KPMG Corporate Advisory, reports the Australian Financial Review (AFR).

Talks are still said to be in the early stages, while other parties are still expressing their interest in the Group as well.

Crichton has been planning the succession of his company for over a year now after he engaged with Goldman Sachs to evaluate an initial public offering.

Ateco Group is most notably responsible for converting RAM utes from left-hand drive to right-hand drive for the Australian and New Zealand market. It originally started as a general engineering company and soon grew to become a major player in in the local automotive industry after Crichton acquired it in 1985.

Abdul Latif Jameel is a family-owned organisation which covers a variety of different businesses, including automotive distribution, of which it began distributing Toyotas in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1955.

The Saudi Arabian firm also extends its business portfolio to automotive parts manufacturing, land and real estate development, shipping, financial services, and more.