Lithia & Driveway announced two purchases Tuesday, one of which gives the company a presence in one of the largest markets in the Southeast: Atlanta.
The retailer said it has acquired Curry Honda in Chamblee, Ga., giving Lithia its first store in the Peach State. Additionally, Lithia bought Orange Coast Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram in Costa Mesa, Calif.
Jon Gray, who is a prior national dealer chairman of what is now known as the Stellantis National Dealer Council, will remain head of the Orange Coast store.
Lithia anticipates the stores will bring in combined annualized revenues of $320 million.
“As we strive to bring seamless online and offline experiences to consumers throughout North America, we’re ecstatic to welcome these two high-performing dealership teams to the family,” Lithia & Driveway president and chief executive officer Bryan DeBoer said in a news release.
“These additions help us expand our omni-channel network and reach our goal of delivering and servicing consumer vehicles within a 100-mile radius anywhere in the country,” DeBoer said.
Asbury sells BMW store in Charlottesville
Elsewhere, another public retailer was involved in an M&A transaction, but this time on the sell side.
Asbury Automotive Group has sold BMW of Charlottesville to Flow Companies, said The Presidio Group, which advised Asbury on the deal.
“As we made the decision to exit the Charlottesville market, we once again turned to The Presidio Group to assist with this strategic divestiture of our only dealership in the area,” Asbury president and CEO David Hult said in a news release. “The team of consummate professionals at Presidio identified an ideal buyer and facilitated a quick and seamless transaction that met all of our goals, and we could not be more pleased with the outcome”.
Flow Automotive Companies chairman and CEO Don Flow said in the release: “We are excited to add to our footprint in the Charlottesville market and could not ask for a better franchise than BMW. I attended university in Charlottesville and am personally connected to this amazing community. We welcome the associates at BMW of Charlottesville to our team and look forward to further serving this great community.”
Wise Auto Group buys 2 Harley-Davidson stores
In another automotive M&A move, Rami Yanni and Wise Auto Group has purchased Orange County Harley-Davidson in Irvine, Calif., and Coronado Beach Harley-Davidson in National City, Calif., from Mark Smith. The deal was shared in a news release from Performance Brokerage Services, which is an automotive and Harley-Davidson brokerage firm.
“Thank you George Chaconas and Courtney Bernhard at Performance Brokerage Services for another successful dealership closing. This sale allows me to focus more on expanding in my home state of Texas,” Smith said in a news release.
“Thank you, Rami and team, for being such pros through the entire process,” he said. “Finally, thank you to the outstanding teams at both stores that did an incredible job taking them from where they were when we started to where they are today. Now, I'm excited to pass the torch to Rami and Wise Auto Group so they can continue to take both stores to the next level.”
In addition to a couple moves on the franchised side of its operations, Sonic Automotive said Wednesday it has opened an EchoPark Automotive delivery center in Pensacola, Fla., the fifth new EchoPark location the retailer has announced in the past week.
Sonic launched its first Florida location for EchoPark last year, opening a Tampa location in April 2020.
“The demand for a modern, consumer-friendly, pre-owned vehicle purchase experience continues to grow, and we are excited to introduce our unique EchoPark experience to the Florida Panhandle, where we will offer a new population of car buyers an exceptional selection of high-quality, pre-owned vehicles, priced up to $3,000 below market with a modern, flexible guest-centric experience.” Sonic and EchoPark chief executive officer David Smith said in a news release.
Added Sonic and EchoPark president Jeff Dyke, “As more people get back on the road, consumers are increasingly looking for a better value in their pre-owned vehicle purchase. EchoPark’s mission is to offer our flexible, seamless car-buying experience to a growing population of happy guests as we continue to expand our nationwide reach.”
Sonic announced the opening of an EchoPark delivery center in Louisville, Ky., on Tuesday.
On Thursday of last week, the retailer announced an EchoPark Automotive retail sales center in Marietta, Ga., to serve the greater Atlanta market as well as an EchoPark delivery center in Salt Lake City.
Then on Friday, Sonic added an EchoPark delivery center in Greensboro, N.C., to serve the Greensboro-Winston Salem-High Point market.
On the franchised dealership side of its operation, Sonic also announced Wednesday it has purchased Grand Junction Subaru and Grand Junction Volkswagen in Colorado.
The acquistion of the Subaru store adds another brand for Sonic.
According to a news release from Kerrigan Advisors (which represented the seller in this transaction), the stores were purchased from Ron Bubar.
“In today’s record-breaking buy/sell market, it was important to identify a buyer who recognized the value of what Ron and his team created in Grand Junction and the tremendous benefits of operating in the Grand Junction market,” said Erin Kerrigan, the firm’s founder and managing director, in a news release.
“Sonic Automotive really understood the unique position these dealerships held in their community and also has a powerful commitment to customer service that will ensure Grand Junction’s legacy continues.”
With the addition of these dealerships, Sonic now operates six franchise dealerships in Colorado. It also has EchoPark locations in Thornton, Centennial and Colorado Springs.
Regarding the acquisition of the Grand Junction stores, Smith, the Sonic CEO, said: “We are very excited to add these two great franchises to the Sonic Automotive family, further strengthening our automotive sales and service network in the Colorado market.
“Each of these award-winning dealerships has demonstrated a long-standing commitment to its customers and the local community, which is key to the success of our growth strategy,” Smith said. “These acquisitions represent another measurable step toward our goal of $25 billion in total revenues by 2025.”
Dyke added: “These two franchises represent the first of several upcoming acquisitions for our franchised dealership business, and we are pleased to add Subaru to our brand portfolio and continue to grow our partnership with Volkswagen.
“Both of these brands are in high demand in the Colorado market and will allow us to continue to expand our network in the western part of the state, reaching new consumers beyond our existing footprint,” he said.
Updated to clarify/correct information around addition of Subaru brand.
Continuing a buzz of M&A activity among auto retailers, Zeigler Auto Group said Monday it has purchased four stores in Wisconsin from Home Run Auto Group, a move that marks its first acquisition in the state.
The four acquired stores include Honda of Racine, Toyota of Racine, Kenosha Subaru, and Racine Hyundai, which have been renamed Zeigler Honda of Racine, Zeigler Toyota of Racine, Zeigler Subaru of Kenosha and Zeigler Hyundai of Racine, respectively.
In addition to its first presence in Wisconsin, the acquisition adds Toyota and Hyundai to Zeigler’s brand portfolio.
The group now has 78 dealership franchises and 35 locations throughout Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan, in addition to other business endeavors.
The group has purchased nine stores in the last 16 months, including Subaru of Merrillville in May.
“We are very proud to be expanding Zeigler into the great state of Wisconsin,” Zeigler Auto Group president and owners Aaron Zeigler said. “We know that the community here will appreciate the way we do business, not just in how we go above and beyond for every single customer, but also in the way that we make it a priority to actively take part in the communities where we operate.”
He later added in the release: “Besides the fact that these are top performing, high volume stores, we chose these stores because of their great potential. They will without a doubt offer all of our customers, both current and new, access to more choices with their locations being right off the highway.”
The company said it plans to retain all staff at the new stores.
LMP Automotive Holdings said Monday it has signed a definitive agreement to buy a Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram dealership in New York and its associated real estate.
Included in the purchase price is $11 million for goodwill and $8.2 million for the associated real estate. It is expected to be funded through cash on the company’s balance sheet and $5.6 million in common stock and debt financing.
The purchase is expected to close in the fourth quarter. It will likely add approximately $80 million in annualized revenue and $2.6 million in adjusted EBITDA.
“This acquisition will further expand our management team and Northeast footprint,” LMP chief operating officer Richard Aldahan said in a news release.
“We intend to continue expanding aggressively in this region as we are seeing a record amount of interest in our dealer partner model,” he said.
LMP chief executive officer Sam Tawfik said in a release: “This acquisition, combined with our previously announced acquisitions, would bring LMP’s total franchise and dealership count to 26 and 22, respectively, with consolidated annualized revenue, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA per share run rate expected to be approximately $1.3 billion, $85 million, and $7.82, respectively.”
This follows two acquisition announcements from LMP last week.
On Thursday, the group said it signed a definitive agreement to buy a Kia store in Connecticut and its associated real estate that would bring in approximately $40 million of annualized revenues and adjusted EBITDA of $1.9 million.
LMP announced July 19 it entered a definitive agreement to buy dealerships in Texas representing General Motors and Nissan brands, along with the associated real estate of those dealerships, for a grand total of about $141 million.
The deal is expected to add approximately $250 million in annualized revenues and $27 million in adjusted EBITDA.
A new chairman for the association representing car dealers in the Big Apple, a San Antonio dealer group using the Texas sun for energy and a Pennsylvania group adds to its store count.
Those are among the latest movements among dealer groups this week.
Starting with the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association, the group representing more than 400 franchised dealers in Metro New York said Tuesday it has elected its new chairman.
Selected for the post last week was Oliver Brodlieb, president of East Hills Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram in Greenvale, N.Y.
His first official duty at GNYADA president will be opening the 2021 New York International Auto Show, which will be held in August.
“Our industry has a bright and prosperous future, and we need talented young women and men to carry us forward as we enter a more technologically advanced age for vehicles,” Brodlieb said in a news release. “As we saw during the pandemic, personal vehicles are more important to people than ever, particularly here in downstate New York, and the importance of retail auto dealers has been so clearly demonstrated. I am delighted to be able to work with my colleagues to support one of the most critical industries for our state.”
GNYADA president Mark Schienberg said in the release: “I’m thrilled to have someone like Mr. Brodlieb, who is so familiar with the auto industry and has a family that has been in business in New York as long as they have. The environment in which our franchise new car dealers operate is ever-changing, with new technology transforming the industry, and a complex regulatory environment. We are very fortunate to have someone with Oliver’s background and experience of the industry, and his passion, to take on this role. The commitment he has shown to education, and to being a charitable champion of his local community, is emblematic of the role dealers play throughout the region and a testament to his dedication.”
Cavender goes solar
Down in Texas, Cavender Auto Group said Tuesday it has partnered with local company Big Sun Solar to build and install solar carports at several of the group’s locations in the San Antonio area and its upcoming Cavender Collision Center.
The group said it has been aiming to add sustainability efforts into its operations, and ultimately chose solar energy as its route towards that. Big Sun has almost finished stalling the carports at Cavender Buick GMC West and has started installation at Cavender Cadillac and Land Rover San Antonio.
The group also plans for installation at Cavender Chevrolet and Cavender Buick GMC North, as well as its upcoming Cavender Collision Center and Cavender Grande Ford locations.
The collision center is expected to open this fall and the Ford store’s opening is to be determined.
"Solar carports make perfect sense for Cavender Auto Group,” president Bobby Cavender said. “Their energy lowers our electric bills, they provide shade for our customers and protection from damaging hail storms.
“We are thrilled to be the first auto group in San Antonio to embrace solar carports and we are grateful to Big Sun Solar for making it happen."
Stuckey Automotive expands
Next up, Pennsylvania-based Stuckey Automotive said Thursday it has purchased Joel Confer Ford in Bellefonte, Pa. The store has been renamed Stuckey Ford of Bellefonte and will open Thursday of next week
Stuckey Automotive, based in Duncansville, Pa., will have five dealerships under its umbrella with this addition. The group’s other stores include Stuckey Ford and Stuckey Subaru in Hollidaysburg, Pa.; Stuckey Buick GMC in Altoona, Pa.; Stuckey Mitsubishi of State College, Pa.
The Confer family, which had owned and operated the Ford dealership since 2004, will continue to operate its State College-based Joel Confer Toyota and Joel Confer BMW stores.
Lithia Motors & Driveway continues to add to its store count, announcing the purchase of Southwest Kia Auto Group on Tuesday.
The Texas group has five stores throughout the Dallas and Austin markets. Lithia expects the addition will bring in annualized revenues of $350 million.
Since announcing a five-year plan in 2020, Lithia is now at $7.5 billion in total expected annualized revenues acquired.
“We have successfully and rapidly integrated the over $7.0 billion in acquisition completed and welcome the Southwest Kia team the Lithia and Driveway family,” Lithia president and chief executive officer Bryan DeBoer said in a news release. “These locations expand our in-store and online offerings in the region with a brand that provides a diverse selection of products for all customer desires and affordability levels.”
In addition to announcing the Southwest Kia purchase, Lithia said it hit record May revenues of $2.1 billion. That marks a 104% year-over-year increase and an 89% increase from pre-pandemic revenues in 2019.
Total same-store sales for May were up 42% year-over-year and 26% from 2019.
“Our technology and team's ability to procure both new and used inventory, combined with continued strength in margins, drove strong performance,” DeBoer said in the release.
“With May same store growth of 20% in new vehicles and over 40% in used vehicles compared to pre-pandemic 2019 levels and service body and parts returning to 2019 levels, we are excited to be finishing up the first year of our five-year plan to achieve $50 in EPS and $50 billion in revenue considerably ahead of plan.”
Lithia Motors & Driveway continues its expansion path, this time adding more muscle in the Northeast.
The retailer announced Tuesday it has acquired Planet Honda in Union, N.J., a store expected to bring in $230 million in annual revenues.
“We are excited to welcome Bill Feinstein and his dedicated team to the Lithia and Driveway family,” Lithia president and chief executive Bryan DeBoer said in a news release.
“Adding one of the highest performing Honda stores in the country further strengthens our ability to serve communities throughout the New York and New Jersey metropolitan areas,” DeBoer said.
Since announcing a five-year plan 10 months ago, Lithia has now surpassed $6.7 billion in total expected annualized revenues acquired.
Earlier this month, Lithia announced it had purchased The Suburban Collection, a Troy, Mich.-headquartered group that includes 56 franchises, with 33 brands across 34 locations. It was also Lithia's first major entry into the North Central region.
“We continue our accelerated pace of acquisitions and are well ahead of our target of acquiring $4 billion in annualized revenues each year,” said DeBoer in this week’s release. “With the most robust and active pipeline in our history, we expect 2021 to be a banner year as we progress toward our five-year plan of $50 billion in revenue and $50 earnings per share.”
In its second acquisition-related move in less than a week, LMP Automotive Holdings said Tuesday it signed a definitive agreement to purchase 85% of both Central Avenue Chrysler Jeep and Chrysler Jeep of White Plains.
Both stores are located in the New York metro area: the former is located in Yonkers, N.Y.; the latter in White Plains, N.Y.
LMP anticipates the deal to close in June. The dealerships are expected to add annualized revenues of about $270 million and bump LMP’s respective total contracted and closed franchise and dealership count to 18 and 17, the retailer said.
“We look forward to welcoming Jonathan Grant and his high-performing teams to the LMP family; their unmatched commitment to serving their local communities and providing the uppermost level of customer service embodies LMP’s core values,” LMP chief operating officer Richard Aldahan said in a news release.
Added LMP chief executive officer Sam Tawfik: “First on behalf of myself and the LMP team I want to welcome our new partner Jonathan Grant to the LMP family as well. We all look forward to working together to expand on the team’s historical success.”
Tawfik continued: “We expect this partnership to significantly increase LMP’s revenues in the important New York Northeast region, along with materially enhancing profitability.”
Meantime, on Wednesday of last week, LMP announced it had closed its purchase of Bachman-Bernard Chevrole-Buick-GMC-Cadillac in Greeneville, Tenn., and its associated real estate.
“Bachman-Bernard Chevrolet-Buick-GMC-Cadillac is a part of our Stage One acquisition agreements, of which to date we have consummated 92% of the expected EBITDA contribution,” LMP said in a release. “In the coming weeks, we expect to close the remaining two contracted acquisitions in West Virginia.”
Lithia & Driveway has expanded its footprint to the Mid-Atlantic, announcing Tuesday it has purchased Sterling Luxury Group.
The purchase of Sterling Motorcars, based in Loudon County, also gives Lithia a presence in the state of Virginia for the first time.
In addition to BMW and Mini of Sterling, the acquisition brings three new premium brands — Rolls-Royce, Lamborghini and McLaren — into the fold.
“Entering our seventh top 10 market in the country further enables LAD to conveniently and affordably serve our customers throughout their complete ownership lifecycle,” Lithia president and chief executive officer Bryan DeBoer said in a news release.
“This acquisition accelerates our unique omni-channel strategy and takes us one large step closer to achieving the year one network growth aspiration of our five-year 50/50 plan,” DeBoer said.
He added: “Sterling Motorcars is a high-performing fixture in the Washington D.C./Beltway corridor and is well-respected for the exceptional customer service and attention to detail they provide their clientele.
“This is a very important milestone for Lithia and expands our national footprint in the mid-Atlantic,” DeBoer said. “We are excited to welcome their team to the Lithia Motors family.”
Lithia anticipates the Sterling group will add annualized revenues of $225 million for the retailer. So far this year, Lithia’s expansion moves have added more than $3.4 million in expected annualized revenues.
The deal was financed through capital Lithia raised through concurrent equity and debt offerings that closed last month.
Just last week, Lithia announced that it had purchased nine stores from Keyes Automotive Group, an acquisition that “rounds out” the retailer’s Southern California footprint and expands it to Phoenix.
According to a separate news release from Kerrigan Advisors, which represented and advised Keyes on the deal, the transaction includes eight stores in the Los Angeles area (where Keyes is based) and one (Bell Road Toyota) in the Phoenix market.
The eight LA-area stores include:
Keyes European (a Mercedes-Benz store)
Keyes Lexus
Keyes Audi
Keyes Hyundai
Keyes Toyota
Lexus of Valencia
Audi Valencia
Mission Hills Hyundai
