This dealer group roundup includes news from two retailers with footprints in both the U.S. and Canada.
Starting with Edmonton-based AutoCanada, the company said Monday it has amended its credit facility, which has also been extended to April 15, 2026.
The revolving facility in the amended credit facility is now $375 million, up from $275 million. Meantime, the wholesale floorplan financing facility is now at $1.22 billion, up from $1.06 billion.
The amended facility also includes a wholesale leasing facility of $15 million.
Total aggregate bank facilities are now at $1.6 billion.
“We are pleased to have completed the amendment of our credit facility and appreciate the strong support and commitment from our bank partners,” AutoCanada executive chairman Paul Antony said in a news release.
“These amendments to our credit facility provide additional flexibility allowing us to execute on our growth strategies and maintain our balanced approach to capital allocation,” Antony said.
Moving to the Pacific Northwest, Oregon-based Lithia & Driveway shared via social media this week it has purchased Ontario’s Acura of Thornhill.
“Lithia & Driveway's presence in Canada is growing! We are excited to announce our recent acquisition of Acura of Thornhill, located in Thornhill, Ontario,” the retailer said in this LinkedIn post.
“This dealership has received some prestigious awards, such as AutoTrader's Best Priced Dealer of 2022 and recognition from the J.D. Power 2022 Dealer of Excellence Program for Customer Sales Experience,” it added. “Welcome to the Lithia & Driveway family!”
Another Canadian dealer group is making moves in the United States.
Canada’s Go Auto, a family-owned dealer group based in Edmonton, has made its first U.S. acquisition, announcing Wednesday it has purchased Washington state’s Mercedes-Benz of Bellingham and Toyota of Bellingham.
Not only are these Go Auto’s first U.S. store, they represent the group’s first acquisition outside Canada.
“We are excited to build on the success of Mercedes-Benz of Bellingham and Toyota of Bellingham and work towards establishing a Go Auto network across North America,” Go Auto president Phil Abram said in a news release.
“Our passion for business extends into the communities we operate, and we are thrilled to become a part of the Bellingham community,” Abram said. “This is just the beginning of our diversified and strategic growth plan as we look forward to further expanding our footprint in 2023.”
Rob Hourani, the general manager of the Bellingham stores, added: “We would like to personally thank every customer of ours for supporting us over the years. We are confident you will continue to receive the same level of service you are accustomed to going forward.”
AutoCanada continued its growth last week with the acquisition of Sterling Honda in Hamilton, Ontario.
The retailer said the purchase will bring in annual revenues of more than $65 million. AutoCanada will fund the transaction from a drawdown of its credit facility.
“We’re excited about the addition of this high-quality dealership, expanding AutoCanada’s footprint in the attractive Hamilton market while adding brand diversity within our overall portfolio,” AutoCanada executive chairman Paul Antony said in a news release.
“Notably, the acquisition expands our relationship with Honda, bringing a fourth Honda store into our dealership portfolio and represents our fifth dealership in Hamilton,” Antony said.
“The acquisition advances our continued strategy of diversifying our brand and geographic mix and will provide growth opportunities as we integrate it with our strong portfolio of dealerships.”
Just nine days after its most recent acquisition, AutoCanada said Tuesday it has purchased two luxury collision centers in Scarborough, Ontario: Excellence Auto Collision Silver Star and Excellence Auto Collision Midwest.
Excellence Auto been in the greater Toronto area for more than 30 years and has certifications with Tesla, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Audi, BMW, Mini, Lucid, VinFast and Volkswagen.
The two facilities combine for more than 60,000 square feet and add more than $10 million in annual revenue.
Current management will continue running the business.
“The addition of this high-quality business continues the strategic expansion of our national collision footprint and builds on our relationship with Tesla, bringing our total Tesla-certified locations in the prime GTA market to three including Velocity Autobody in Markham, Ontario,” AutoCanada executive chairman Paul Antony said in a news release.
“Our focus remains on supporting our customers and OEM partners through the entire vehicle ownership lifecycle — which includes repairing vehicles by following OEM recommended repair procedures and using the recommended OEM parts to ensure the integrity of repaired vehicles,” Antony said. “Excellence Auto Collision's experienced team have built a tremendous reputation in the GTA market, and we look forward to growing this legacy into the future.”
AutoCanada announced October that it had acquired Kavia Auto Body in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
Kavia Auto Body is located near AutoCanada’s Dodge City Auto and Saskatoon Motor Products stores. The acquisition generates more than $5.5 million in annual revenue.
There’s a trend that may have started back before the pandemic, but is ramping up recently: Canadian dealers are increasingly looking south of the border, eyeing mergers, acquisitions and opportunities in the U.S.
Auto Remarketing Canada spoke with a variety of different leading M&A experts across the U.S and Canada to learn more.
There are a variety of different elements contributing to this trend, ranging from …
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AutoCanada has more than doubled its presence in Ontario with its latest acquisition.
The Edmonton-based dealer group said Wednesday it has completed its purchase of 11 Autopoint Group dealerships in southwestern Ontario.
AutoCanada now has 18 stores in the province.
The Autopoint locations in the purchase include Honda, Acura, Nissan, Infiniti, Subaru and Kia stores that more than $345 million in combined annual revenues.
The stores that AutoCanada purchased are:
- London Honda, London Kia, South London Nissan, and London Infiniti in London, Ontario
- Guelph Kia in Guelph, Ontario
- Brantford Honda in Brantford, Ontario
- Waterloo Honda in Waterloo, Ontario
- Acura of Hamilton, Subaru of Hamilton, Hamilton Kia, and Plaza Nissan in Hamilton, Ontario
AutoCanada has also signed a deal to buy North London Toyota from Autopoint, a transaction that has not yet closed and remains subject to customary conditions like OEM approval.
“The acquisition adds significant size, scale and scope to AutoCanada's existing platform in a growing market,” AutoCanada executive chairman Paul Antony said in a news release.
“We are very honoured to be able to partner with Honda and Acura for the first time, to represent Kia again, and to expand our existing partnerships with Nissan, Infiniti, and Subaru. Last but not least, we are very excited to welcome the high quality Autopoint team to the AutoCanada family,” Antony said.
The Autopoint senior leadership team said this in the release: “We are incredibly excited to join the AutoCanada family and continue to deliver top-tier performance to our OEM partners. All of our team members are staying with us through this transaction and will have even more opportunities to grow alongside AutoCanada.”
Dealer group giant AutoCanada has purchased a new collision center in Montreal. Its new addition — Autolux MB Collision — is a luxury-brand certified Mercedes-Benz collision center with over 30 years of experience in its market.
"The addition of this high-quality collision centre is another step towards our goal of filling out our national collision center footprint," said executive chairman Paul Antony, in a press release. "We strongly believe in supporting our customers and OEM partners through the entire vehicle ownership lifecycle — including collision repair. Increasing vehicle complexity puts a further emphasis on fixing vehicles the right way — using parts and procedures prescribed by the OEM."
The facility houses more than 15 production bays. It's also located close to four of AutoCanada's own dealerships, perhaps part of the strategy behind the recent purchase: Mercedes-Benz Rive-Sud, BMW Mini Montreal Centre, BMW Mini Laval and Planete Mazda.
The dealer group shared this latest buy represents "a continuation of the company's strategy to develop its national collision center network to match AutoCanada's dealership network."
In other recent aquisition news from AutoCanada, the group purchased Ontario independent dealer Mark Wilson’s Better Used Cars in August, a move the retailer says augments its plans of building its Used Digital Retail Division.
And earlier this year, AutoCanada announced it had already upped its service game prior to its most recent move in Montreal with the purchase of British Columbia-based collision center PG Klassic Autobody.
AutoCanada announced Monday it has completed its purchase of British Columbia-based collision center PG Klassic Autobody.
The Prince George body shop facility is more than 20,000 square feet and is close to AutoCanada’s Northland Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram, Northland Hyundai, and Northland Nissan stores.
AutoCanada is expanding its collision center footprint to align with its dealership footprint.
"This marks our second collision center acquisition since Q4 and is another step towards our goal of filling out our national collision center footprint," AutoCanada executive chairman Paul Antony said in a news release.
"We strongly believe in supporting our customers and OEM partners through the entire vehicle ownership lifecycle — including collision repair. Increasing vehicle complexity puts a further emphasis on fixing vehicles the right way — using parts and procedures prescribed by the OEM."
