Corporate drama in the niche world of antiques resale. Last week Auction Technology Group, the U.K.-based owner of LiveAuctioneers and Chairish, announced that it was rejecting a $660 million buyout offer from its largest shareholder, private equity firm FitzWalter Capital. The twist? Behind the scenes, FitzWalter has been an extremely eager suitor: This is the 12th offer the firm has made in the space of four months.

The courtship has not been a happy one. The buyout saga first went public after a January 5 offer (the 11th in a row, for those keeping score), which Auction Technology Group rejected and formally disclosed to its shareholders. Since then, FitzWalter and ATG have been trading barbed statements; the auction giant claiming the offers are unserious and opportunistic, the private equity firm crying mismanagement.

Chairish is evidently a catalyst for the drama. Last August, ATG acquired the California-based antiques and vintage resale site for $85 million. The thesis was simple: ATG—which owns a handful of online auction sites, including LiveAuctioneers—would be instantly acquiring a huge pool of customers, online inventory and web traffic. By integrating Chairish into its auction-centric network, the company could give more options to buyers and sellers, while cutting down on operational costs.

FitzWalter, which owns roughly 21 percent of ATG, doesn’t see it that way. In public statements, the PE firm has been unsparing in its attack on the purchase, criticizing everything from the thesis behind the deal to the expense of making it happen (according to FitzWalter, it cost ATG $15 million in transaction and integration fees to buy Chairish).

“Chairish was a loss-making business at acquisition whose revenues have been broadly flat since COVID, and was a different business from ATG’s existing marketplaces at the time of acquisition,” wrote FitzWalter in a January 12 statement. “[Chairish’s board remains] proud of (to the point of trumpeting) their ‘conviction’ [regarding the acquisition]—shareholders can ill afford any more of the Board’s conviction.”

The success or failure of the Chairish merger will surely take time to play out, and ATG has pointed out that the purchase was a long-term bet. However, there’s no denying that it had a short-term impact on the company’s stock price, which tumbled roughly 22 percent immediately following the acquisition. Since then, it has languished in the £3 (around $4) range, far off its 52-week high of £6 (about $8). Year-end results showed ATG grappling with tariff shock and economic downturns in key markets: The company lost money and saw its EBITDA shrink.

The board has argued that a depressed stock price is temporary, the market will bounce back, the Chairish integration hasn’t had time to yield dividends, and that FitzWalter’s offer of £4 (around $5.40) per share “fundamentally undervalues the company and its future prospects.” ATG has the backing of at least one of its other big investors. Liontrust Asset Management, which owns roughly 10 percent of the company’s stock, has publicly rejected the takeover attempt, saying it was not adequate, “even when assessed over a short-term horizon.”

However, having bid 12 times, it seems at least possible that FitzWalter will look to press the issue. Under U.K. law, the company is required to submit a formal bid (until now, the outreach has been nonbinding) by February 2. That gives the PE firm a week and change to put together another offer. Lucky 13?