ADESA Continues Expansion with Acquisition of ABC Nashville, ABC Minneapolis

By Richard Greene, Auto Group Features Editor
August 18, 2008

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INDIANAPOLIS and CARMEL, Ind. — ADESA continues to demonstrate its commitment to expanding its remarketing footprint as a result of its acquisition of ABC Nashville and ABC Minneapolis, which were announced Friday afternoon. That's the word from Warren Byrd, executive vice president for corporate development for ADESA.

"From the big picture, this clearly exhibits ADESA's ongoing dedication to grow our business and to further expand our presence in the remarketing industry in the U.S.," Byrd told Auto Remarketing late Friday.

"These are major metropolitan markets in terms of population and both have excellent established facilities and experienced management so that we can increase our footprint in areas where we're not located in and further satisfy the growing needs of our customers," Byrd added.

Jim Hallett, president and chief executive officer for ADESA, echoed that sentiment.

"I have always considered Mike Hockett, CEO of ABC, to be a visionary with a knack for choosing locations in strategic markets that are beneficial to dealers and to commercial sellers," Hallett pointed out.

"Minneapolis and Nashville are two great additions to the ADESA family. These acquisitions show ADESA's commitment to continue to grow its auction business and other related businesses, such as Automotive Finance Corporation," Hallett further explained.

According to Byrd, ADESA is also looking to establishing a regional base in powersport and specialty sales at its new Nashville location.

"There is a lake nearby our facility there, which is beneficial, so that we can even test out some of the boats there," Byrd said.

But Byrd was quick to add, "I don't want to understate the fact that our powersport sales will be but one piece of the auction in Nashville. It's also a great destination for dealers, and it's a good car market strategically located in the South between ADESA Memphis and ADESA Knoxville. We have some strong fleet accounts there and a good dealer business, both of which we intend to build upon. And it's becoming a location for automotive-related businesses, particularly Nissan."

Byrd pointed out that the 60-acre, six-lane ADESA Nashville, as it will now be called, will bring back Nick Snow to serve as general manager. Snow previously served as the facility's general manager and partner under ABC, but joined the Bel Air Auto Auction, part of BSC America, in August 2006 as its general manager.

"Nick knows the Nashville market and knows the customers, and he will enable ADESA to hit the ground running," Byrd said.

Regarding the 82-acre, six-lane Minneapolis facility, which will be known as ADESA Minneapolis, Byrd said it is positioned in one of the top 15 markets in the country and bolsters ADESA's presence in the upper Midwest region. He added that it compliments the company's recent acquisitions of ADESA Fargo and ADESA Sioux Falls, providing ADESA dealers in the area even more options for remarketing their vehicles.

According to Byrd, that sale will continue to be overseen by Jay Fahrendorff and Chuck Eck, who ran ABC Minneapolis as managing partners.

"We have a good management team in place in Minneapolis, and we'll be able to rely upon them moving forward," he said.

With these two acquisitions, ADESA now operates 47 auctions throughout the U.S., in addition to its 14 locations in Canada and one in Mexico.

According to both Byrd and Jason Hockett, executive vice president of sales and marketing for ABC, the deal has been in the works for about six months and was officially closed last Friday.

"My father, Mike Hockett, had a great vision in starting ABC, just as he did with ADESA, and was able to build ABC Nashville as a greenfield operation in a tremendous location. It's one of the most beautiful auction facilities I've ever seen," Jason Hockett noted.

"Manheim has done a real nice job in the Nashville marketplace, and we just were not able to attract the commercial consignors to make a consistent run of it over the past eight years," Jason Hockett further pointed out.

Jason Hockett also praised the efforts of Fahrendorff and Eck, as well as all of ABC's employees who worked at the two auctions. "First off, Jay and Chuck were super partners with us in Minneapolis, and I believe they will enable ADESA to grow even further. That was a fantastic auction for ABC," he said. "And we are thankful for all of our staff who worked in Minneapolis and Nashville. They were notified prior to the announcement and think they will continue to do a fantastic job for ADESA."

Byrd agreed. "I can say there's a lot of excitement among the employees to be a part of a growing, stable company that's got such a good presence in the industry," he said.

Regarding both sales to ADESA, Mike Hockett said, "We're car people who have a passion for the industry and especially for the dealer. I am pleased to sell these auctions to ADESA because I know their management team shares similar values and commitment to customer service."

According to Jason Hockett, ABC remains committed to its business at its remaining six facilities in Detroit/Toledo, Atlanta, Orlando, Southeast Florida, Bowling Green, Ky., and Murfreesboro, Tenn.

Looking down the road, ABC now has its eye on an additional market in the South, Jason Hockett said. "With these facilities going forward, we will be more focused on markets that are not as large and that do not require huge facilities to service our clients," he explained explained.

"We are looking at a particular market that I know we can do a good job in," Jason Hockett added. "Again, we'll probably stay with smaller footprints and not go after a lot of the big factory business. That's just not our niche. But we believe ABC still has a great future."

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