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Judge finds Freshstream orchestrated plan to oust Big Motoring CEO
Big Motoring World was forced to remove Peter Waddell in 2024, after a private equity deal that gave Freshstream a pathway to control the business via a call option.
A high court judge ruled that Peter Waddell, the CEO of Kent-based used car dealership Big Motoring World, was properly dismissed for gross misconduct, but also found that private equity investor Freshstream did not address his conduct and instead worked toward removing him from the company.
According to The Guardian Business, the judge said Freshstream’s approach involved a pre-conceived and orchestrated plan aimed at achieving permanent control of the business and Waddell’s removal without having to exercise a pre-agreed call option.
The ruling described “more-or-less open warfare” at the dealership following the 2024 coup and said Waddell’s exclusion caused “unfair prejudice” to an investment company holding his majority stake.
The article says Big Motoring World had 525 employees, revenues of £371m, and profits of £6.6m in its 2021 annual accounts, and that Freshstream acquired about a third of the business in April 2022 with an option to buy the rest of Waddell’s shares later.