HOUSTON -

Along with increasing its common stock share repurchase authorization, Group 1 Automotive on Friday announced that Stephen Quinn has been elected by its board to serve as non-executive chairman of its board of directors.

Group 1 indicated Quinn has served as a director of the company since May 2002, and currently serves on the board of directors, the audit committee and the risk oversight committee of Zions Bancorporation. Quinn has replaced John Adams, whose tenure as chair spanned 12 years. 

The dealer group added Adams will continue as a director and now serve as chairman of the company's finance/risk management (FRM) Committee. Adams has been a director of the company since November 1999.

“We would like to thank John for serving as non-executive chairman for the past decade, and for continuing on with our board as FRM Committee chair. John’s insight and experience with capital allocation has been integral to the company for the past 18 years," said Earl Hesterberg, Group 1's president and chief executive officer.

“We now welcome Steve to the role of non-executive chairman and believe his extensive background in corporate finance and tremendous experience in assessing business strategies and risks make him a great asset as the new chairman,” Hesterberg continued in a news release.

And in other company news also shared on Friday, Group 1 noted that its board of directors increased the company's common stock share repurchase authorization to $75.0 million.

The dealer group explained purchases may be made from time to time, based on market conditions, legal requirements and other corporate considerations, in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions.

The company expects that any repurchase of shares will be funded by cash from operations. Repurchased shares will be held in treasury.

Group 1's board of directors also declared a cash dividend of $0.24 per share for the first quarter of 2017. The dividend will be payable on June 15 to stockholders of record on June 1.