Shares in Auction Technology Group (ATG) fell 8% to 283p after bidder FitzWalter Capital walked away. In doing so, the investment firm drew a line under its months-long campaign following repeated rejections from ATG’s board.

Share price: 283p (-8.4%)	PE: 60.5x
Market cap: £374m	Yield: n/a

THAT’S YOUR LOT

On 16 January, FitzWalter announced it was considering a 400p per share offer for the auction software firm. After ATG’s board refused to grant access to due diligence, FitzWalter said last week its 400p offer was final.

Having been rejected yet again, after months of trying, FitzWalter said it would not make an offer. The firm can’t come back to the table for another six months, unless a third party makes an offer for ATG.

Having made a dozen approaches, and had every one rejected, we aren’t the least bit surprised FitzWalter walked. The board of ATG made no attempt to engage or provide due access to diligence, meaning FitzWalter was flying blind.

It’s easy to say the offers were ‘opportunistic’ and undervalued the business, but we didn’t see much of a defence. If ATG has a master plan to restore value for shareholders, maybe it should put it forward.

There were preliminary expressions of interest for its I&C (industrial and commercial) division, but those went nowhere. The board simply says it’s fully confident in the group’s current prospects to ‘create material value’ for shareholders.

At 400p per share, FitzWalter was offering a 48% premium to the 270p ATG share price on 2 January 2026. The board – and investors – had better hope the shares reach 400p under their own steam or they may rue the day.

Read details here: https://www.auctiontechnologygroup.com/investors