UK's Pendragon agrees to sweetened buyout of UK motor, leasing businesses

(Reuters) - British auto dealer Pendragon said on Monday it had agreed to sell its UK motor and leasing businesses to Lithia Motors for a sweetened offer of 397 million pounds ($482.00 million).

Lithia Motors had offered 250 million pounds for the business in September.

At the time, the companies agreed on the terms of a partnership, including the rollout of Pinewood - the British firm's dealer management software (DMS) business - to Lithia's existing 50 UK sites, and the creation of a joint venture to speed up Pinewood's entry into the North American DMS market.

As part of the deal, Lithia, one of the largest automotive retailers in North America, will also subscribe to 279.4 million new ordinary shares in Pendragon for 30 million pounds.

Last week, Pendragon said it had received an unsolicited proposal from AutoNation for about 447 million pounds.

It came days after the firm's top shareholder, Hedin Mobility Group, and U.S.-based PAG International sweetened their joint proposal to buy the company after their previous bid was rejected.

($1 = 0.8237 pounds)

(Reporting by Prerna Bedi and Eva Mathews in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)