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 11, 2014 — Recent developments in patent law playing out in an expensive two year dispute involving Auto Alert, DealerSocket and Dominion Dealer Services portend a world in which defending patents that are for business based processes becomes significantly more difficult. How will the dispute affect the data mining equity world in automotive retail space? And…
According to data compiled by The Banks Report, the Asbury Automotive Group’s acquisition of Sandy Springs Ford this week puts the industry at 300 dealership buy-sells for the year. As we reported in our November Dealership Buy-Sell Update, the industry finished November with 295 acquisitions, compared with 202 total deals for all of 2013. Since… 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,…
December 6, 2014 — UPDATED — Is Volvo worth a second look? The growing role of private equity; How long will the high multiples continue? Record setting year for number of acquisitions as the industry zeroes in on 300. Number of acquisitions by brand. Also, Van Tuyl sells a dealership; Sonic’s pending deals & the top… Continue Reading
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…