December 22, 2015 — Lithia Motors announced its sixth acquisition of 2015 yesterday — the Barton Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram Alfa Romeo Fiat dealership in Spokane, WA. The purchase adds to Lithia’s presence in Spokane where it already owns stores selling the BMW, Chevrolet Cadillac, Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, and Subaru brands. Lithia expects the purchase to add approximately… Continue Reading
December 17, 2015 — It was an intense first two weeks in the dealership buy-sell world as transactions involving 38 stores were either closed or announced through December 15. December is shaping up to be a huge month which could put the industry near 500 rooftops exchanging hands in 2015. It’s the biggest two week stretch since The Banks Report…
December 16, 2015 — McLarty Automotive acquired four dealerships this week from the Asbury Automotive Group in Little Rock, AR. The purchase gives the McLarty group 13 dealerships — 11 that have been acquired since the end of October. The four dealerships are North Point Nissan (McLarty Nissan of Little Rock); North Little Rock Nissan (McLarty… Continue Reading
October 28, 2015 — The Banks Report has confirmed the McLarty Automotive Group has acquired seven stores selling 16 franchises of the Joe Machens dealership group in Columbia, MO, from owners Gary and Rusty Drewing. Charles Oglesby, the former chairman and CEO of the Asbury Automotive Group, has been named the CEO of the group. The… Continue Reading
October 24, 2015 — AutoNation is on a buying spree this year. It is set to announce early this next week that is acquiring the Allen Samuels Group in Texas. The acquisition follows its August purchase of 16 stores — 13 from Carl Gregory in Georgia and three in Maryland owned by Charles Fenwick. (TBR has…
October 15, 2015 — Fremont Private Holdings is acquiring Morrie Wagener’s 11 dealership-group in Minnesota. Partnering with Fremont is Karl Schmidt, who has run Morrie’s Automotive Group since 2009 as its CEO. Fremont, which is the investment firm established by the family that owns construction company Bechtel Corp., has been rumored for about two years to… Continue Reading
September 18. 2015 — Following up on July and August’s torrid pace of 40 dealerships each month changing owners, the first 18 days of September has had at least 20 stores with new owners — including 11 this week alone. (That does not include the 11 Sam Swope stores AMSI is expected to close on in the…
September 9, 2015 — A torrid July and August in the dealership buy-sell market saw 81 rooftops change hands bringing the 2015 total to 322 through the first eight months of the year — just two shy of all of 2014’s total. Averaging about 40.25 buy-sells a month this year, the industry is on pace to…
September 4, 2015 — We’re putting the finishing touches on the July and August dealership buy-sell updates. It has been a vibrant and active summer, and as we enter the fall months, several large deals are rumored to be nearing the finish line, including the AMSI’s pending acquisition of 11 stores of the Sam Swope… Continue Reading
August 18, 2015 — AutoNation announced this morning its biggest acquisition by revenue since 2001. The nation’s largest dealer group is acquiring 16 dealerships — 13 from Carl Gregory Enterprises and three stores owned by the Valley Motors Auto Group. Combined, the stores generated more than $600 million in revenue in 2014 on nearly 20,000 new and used…