Auction Technology Group – FitzWalter Capital is determined, making 12th approach and suggesting 400p a share cash offer, shares 362p

Mark Watson-Mitchell – 18.01.2026

Last Friday morning, 16th January, the FitzWalter Capital investment group announced that it has increased its possible offer for Auction Technology Group (LON:ATG) to 400p per share, valuing the company at £491m, a 48% premium to the undisturbed share price on Friday 2nd January.

FitzWalter Capital

It is a global private investment firm headquartered in London, with offices in New York and Hamburg.

Founded in 2020, the firm manages $2.4bn on behalf of long-term pension and superannuation funds, sovereign wealth funds, endowments and foundations, asset managers, consultants and family offices, including some of the world's largest investment programmes.

FitzWalter invests across industries and asset classes, providing reliable, long-term capital to founders and management teams.

The firm is highly selective, focusing on high-quality businesses and assets.

Its partners are among the largest investors in the firm's funds, ensuring strong alignment with investors and a disciplined approach to capital stewardship.

Auction Technology Group

The group is the operator of world-leading auction and list price marketplaces that connect millions of buyers with unique items worth finding again.

It operates across two major sectors: Arts & Antiques and Industrial & Commercial.

The Group powers ten branded online auction and list price marketplaces using best in class proprietary technology and collectively facilitates the sale of more than 26m unique secondary items per year with a value of over $12bn annually.

ATG has offices in North America, the United Kingdom, Germany and Mexico.

The Approaches

On Monday 5th January, it was announced that FitzWalter Capital had made an indicative offer of 360p in cash per Auction Technology Group plc share, representing a 33% premium to the closing price on 2nd January.

That announcement followed ATG's pre-emptive disclosure regarding FitzWalter's potential offer, which FitzWalter states was made after ten previous proposals were not engaged with by ATG's board.

Last Friday’s revised proposal comes amid concerns over Auction Technology Group's recent financial performance, including core marketplace revenue growth below 1% in FY25, a cumulative 8% decline in gross merchandise value over one year, and a 4% year-on-year decrease in adjusted EBITDA in FY25, the first such decline since its IPO.

FitzWalter highlighted increased central overheads and a decline in the Art and Antiques segment's adjusted EBITDA as contributing factors, alongside significant transaction and integration costs for the Chairish acquisition.

FitzWalter urges Auction Technology Group's board to engage constructively to avoid further value destruction, with a deadline for a firm offer announcement set for Monday 2nd February.

Andrew Gray, Partner at FitzWalter Capital, stated that:

"We value and respect the opinions of other shareholders.

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.

We urge all shareholders to compel the Board to engage with FitzWalter in order to deliver a transaction."

ATG Chairman Scott Forbes. earlier this month, stated that:

"ATG remains confident about achieving its ambitions as a publicly listed company and delivering significant shareholder value.

As a sector leader, ATG is in a strong position to extend its leadership and expand its footprint to capture more of the under-served and significant TAM for curated second-hand goods.

The Board has undertaken significant engagement with FitzWalter over the past four months.

The Board believes FitzWalter's proposals fundamentally undervalue the business and that it is time for FitzWalter either to make a proposal which reflects fair value, or otherwise allow the business to dedicate its full focus and resources on the execution of its strategy."

My View

The ATG Board is going to have to come out fighting when it publishes its Trading Update on Thursday of this week.

The group's shares could well trade up to a 'premium' from the current 362p.