January 13, 2015 — The Banks Report began a new feature this week for subscribers — The TBR Daily Report, which provides short clips of analysis and news you may have missed. In today’s TBR Daily Report:: Chinese online firm BitAuto’s shares plunge; Volkswagen to add 100 dealerships; Washington, IA dealership bankrupt. AutoTrader’s Bitauto Gets…
January 12, 2015 — We are announcing a new feature for the subscribers of The Banks Report — a daily news wrap of stories you may have missed or you that you may find only on The Banks Report. News of Interest today includes DealerTrack exiting the Canadian market; Toyota Motor Sales and Sirius XM…
December 18, 2014 — DealerTrack today announced it has acquired the international DMS firm incadea for $190.3 million (about $63 million more than incadea’s market cap) using cash on hand and cash from existing credit facilities. The company was once owned by Reynolds and Reynolds from 2003 to 2007. It’s an important deal — and…
In a move The Banks Report predicted twice in the last six weeks, Sonic Automotive has traded a Cadillac dealership for one of John Elway’s two Chevrolet stores in the Denver market. (November Dealership Buy-Sell Update) The swap came about because Sonic needed real estate on which to build a new facility for the Murray… Continue Reading
David Maus has made his next move in automotive retail acquiring the Nissan dealership owned by the Ferman Automotive Group in New Port Richey, FL. Maus, who had been partnered with the Van Tuyl Automotive Group in four stores in the Orlando, FL area recently sold his stake back to Van Tuyl for a reported $20… Continue Reading
December 7, 2014 — The return of the midsize truck market is officially in play with two big announcements last week. Late last week, Toyota Senior Vice President of Operations Bob Carter announced during the automaker’s annual media Christmas luncheon in Detroit that it will show a newly revamped Toyota Tacoma at the 2015 North American… Continue Reading
December 5, 2015 — DealerTrack apparently likes to make surprise announcements in December. Last year, it announced the acquisition of Dealer.com in what turned out to be a $987 million deal. Yesterday, the Long Island-based dealer technology firm confirmed it is in preliminary discussions to make another acquisition and will announce its decision by or on January 1,…
November 24, 2014 — Teachers in Texas apparently like the financial prospects of franchised car dealerships. One of the country’s largest pension funds, the Teachers Retirement System of Texas is investing in Capital Automotive, a firm that provides sale-leaseback capital to car dealers, through an investment fund established by Capital’s parent Brookfield Property Partners. Brookfield…
November 23, 2014 — Cox Automotive continues to be active in the acquisition space buying the assets of small used car data firm last week, following its $325 million purchase of Xtime two weeks ago. It.has spent approximately $3 billion on both U.S. and international (China and Brazil) acquisitions since 2010. Meanwhile, the Atlanta-based firm…
It continues to be a sizzling year for acquisitions in the automotive retail space. The Banks Report has learned the latest company to be acquired is Xtime, a firm that provides technology solutions to dealership service departments. Cox Automotive is announcing this afternoon that it has acquired the Redwood City, CA-based firm for $325 million…