Cliff Banks - The Banks Report

Berkshire Hathaway Automotive Makes its First Purchase

The newly minted Berkshire Hathaway Automotive wasted little time making its first acquisition buying Frank Kent Honda in Fort Worth, TX last week.

The dealership was owned by Corrie Watson and her brother Will Churchill who decided to sell following the unexpected death of Watson’s husband, Tim. Churchill and Watson are great grandchildren of Frank Kent who started the company as the GMC Truck Company in Fort Worth in 1917. A Cadillac, Hyundai and Fisker dealerships are still owned by the Frank Kent Motor Co. (For more on the story, read Star Telegram.)

Warren Buffett’s Berskhire Hathaway closed on the Van Tuyl group acquisition last month and set up headquarters for the new group in Dallas, TX changing the company’s name to Berkshire Hathaway Automotive.

The acquisition involves 81 rooftops and is the largest dealership buy-sell in industry history. As expected, Larry Van Tuyl is staying with the company as chairman while Jeff Rachor has been named CEO.

General managers are retaining their minority stakes in their respective dealerships.

The Frank Kent Honda acquisition will be the first of several deals that could be announced by Berkshire throughout the the rest of the year.

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