December 14, 2016 — The McLarty Automotive Group announced yesterday that it has completed the acquisition of five dealerships and two collision centers in Little Rock, AR from the Asbury Automotive Group.

The acquisition brings Mark McLarty’s total to 19 dealerships — all acquired since 2014 — generating an estimated $1.4 billion a year in revenue.

According to data compiled by TBR, the McLarty group is the fastest growing dealer group since early 2014 and is part of a new breed of dealer partnering with private equity groups to finance acquisitions. A close second is the RFJ Companies, founded by Rick Ford, which has added nearly 30 dealerships since mid-2013.

(See McLarty Automotive Buys Stores, Has Investment from Family Offices).

The McLarty automotive empire includes RML Automotive, which has 26 dealerships and is run by Mark’s brother Franklin and former Toyota and Chrysler chief Jim Press.

The properties involved in McLarty’s recent transaction include:

• BMW of Little Rock (retaining the same name).
• North Point Ford (renamed Mark McLarty Ford)
• North Point Lincoln (renamed Mark McLarty Lincoln)
• North Point Toyota (renamed Mark McLarty Toyota)
• Volvo of Little Rock (renamed McLarty Volvo Cars of Little Rock)
• North Point Collision Center North
• North Point Collision Center West

The Banks Report wrote about the  pending transaction in its 2016 3rd Quarter on Dealership Buy-Sell Activity. (The dealership buy-sell reports along with spreadsheets of transactions going back to January 2013 are available to premium subscribers of The Banks Report). 

The five dealerships are in addition to four that McLarty acquired from Asbury last year, also reported by The Banks Report. 

With the sale, Asbury exits the Little Rock market, and continues its trend of being a seller and not a buyer having sold more than 10 dealerships since early 2015.