4 dealership teams, together with two of the most important within the nation, expanded their holdings with acquisitions within the second and third quarters.
Here is a have a look at the offers involving import and home shops and dealerships in California, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming.
Two offers concerned teams ranked on Automotive Information‘ checklist of the highest 150 dealership teams.
New marketplace for Value Simms
Value Simms Household Dealerships of Larkspur, Calif., north of San Francisco, entered Sacramento, Calif., with the acquisition of two Ford dealerships final month.
Value Simms on Aug. 31 purchased Downtown Ford and Harrold Ford, each in Sacramento, from Victory Automotive Group. The dealerships are about 5 miles aside.
“We’re usually very excessive on Ford Motor Co.,” Value Simms CEO Adam Simms instructed Automotive Information. “And we’re trying to develop into the Sacramento market. The vendor contacted me and requested me if I might be fascinated by contemplating the chance. I stated, ‘Completely.’ We got here to phrases and so we’re fairly excited concerning the alternative.”
Value Simms is conserving one location, Harrold Ford, as a standard Ford gross sales and repair dealership and renamed it Downtown Ford Sacramento.
Simms stated the opposite acquired dealership, renamed Downtown Ford Industrial Middle, is now promoting and servicing business and fleet autos. He stated that the group is within the planning phases to show the ability into what he known as a Ford Professional Elite service middle.
Ford has stated Professional Elite facilities, that are a part of the Ford vendor community, would require new amenities and funding. Bigger service bays and cell service functionality are among the elements that make a middle Elite, the automaker has stated.
Value Simms additionally has a Ford-Lincoln dealership in Fairfield, Calif.
Simms stated the August buy was the group’s first acquisition since 2019, when he stated Value Simms purchased two dealerships that promote ultraluxury manufacturers in Walnut Creek and Los Gatos, Calif.
Value Simms ranks No. 85 on Automotive Information‘ checklist of the highest 150 dealership teams based mostly within the U.S., retailing 11,878 new autos in 2021.
The Downtown Ford and Harrold Ford gross sales had been Victory Automotive’s first divestitures for the reason that group bought Ocean Honda of North Hollywood, north of Los Angeles, in June, Rodger Olson, the group’s COO, confirmed to Automotive Information in an electronic mail.
In two separate Could transactions, Victory Automotive bought Honda dealerships in Alabama and New York. Victory Automotive additionally has acquired shops in California and Ohio this yr.
Victory Automotive of Canton, Mich., ranks No. 14 on Automotive Information‘ checklist of the highest 150 dealership teams, retailing 36,958 new autos in 2021.
Sutherlin Automotive provides twelfth dealership, enters new state
Sutherlin Automotive Group expanded into a 3rd state and purchased its first Subaru dealership with its Sept. 14 buy of Earl Duff Subaru from Tim Duff in Kingston, Tenn., in keeping with Sutherlin CEO Brett Sutherlin.
Sutherlin Automotive of Buford, Ga., now owns 12 dealerships promoting six manufacturers: Nissan, Mitsubishi, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Genesis and Subaru. The family-owned auto retailer operates dealerships in Florida, Georgia and now Tennessee. Kingston is west of Knoxville.
The Tennessee dealership, which just lately relocated to a brand new facility, was renamed Sutherlin Subaru.
“We’re excited to carry new producers into the Sutherlin Automotive Group,” Sutherlin stated in an announcement. “That is simply step one in increasing the Sutherlin model throughout the Southeast.”
Tim Duff took over the dealership from his late father, Earl Duff. Duff, in an announcement, stated he bought the dealership as a result of he needed to pursue different issues and did not have a succession plan.
The Subaru acquisition follows Sutherlin’s June buy of Genesis of Fort Myers, its second dealership in Fort Myers, Fla.
Sutherlin, in an electronic mail to Automotive Information, stated his group is constructing a Hyundai retailer in Gainesville, Ga., and a Mitsubishi outlet on the Mall of Georgia in Buford, each new, open-point dealerships.
George Chaconas, the Southeast companion of Efficiency Brokerage Companies, an Irvine, Calif., buy-sell agency, facilitated the Sutherlin-Duff transaction.
Sutherlin Automotive ranks No. 108 on Automotive Information‘ checklist of the highest 150 dealership teams based mostly within the U.S., retailing 9,261 new autos in 2021.
Clay Cooley provides Hyundai retailer
Seller Clay Cooley added to his dealership group’s presence within the Dallas-Fort Price space in Texas, with the June 27 addition of his third Hyundai dealership, certainly one of greater than 10 dealerships in his portfolio, in keeping with DCG Acquisitions, a Dave Cantin Group firm, which facilitated the transaction.
“It is a strategic acquisition,” George Pero, vp of gross sales for DCG Acquisitions, stated in a telephone interview. Pero together with Brian O’Malley, a managing director with the corporate, labored on the transaction.
“Just about all their dealerships are inside driving distance,” Pero stated of Clay Cooley Auto Group of Irving, Texas. “This buy expands their current footprint.”
In November, the Clay Cooley group purchased a standalone Cadillac dealership in Garland, Texas.
The latest acquisition, previously generally known as Bob Stallings Hyundai in Dallas, was renamed Clay Cooley Hyundai of Dallas.
The dealership is a previous Automotive Information Finest Dealerships To Work For winner. The vendor was vendor Bob Stallings. In a telephone interview, Stallings confirmed he was the vendor, via a company entity he controls.
“It wasn’t significantly on the market. However Cooley made a really compelling provide,” Stallings stated. “As a enterprise particular person, regardless that I used to be emotionally hooked up to the dealership, I assumed it was a superb bid.”
Stallings, additionally a former auto insurance coverage firm government, stated he would not personal another dealerships, however he want to get again into auto retail sooner or later.
“I just like the automotive enterprise and I intend to be in it once more, though I really feel like I’ll wait till it is extra rational pricing,” he stated.
Heritage Auto Group expands in Wyoming
Heritage Auto Group on Aug. 16 purchased two dealerships in southwest Wyoming, E & L Motors, a Chevrolet-Buick-GMC retailer, and Frontier Ford, from brothers Vince and Tony Tomassi. That is in keeping with Jon Weese, CEO of Heritage Auto.
The acquisition of the Diamondville, Wyo., shops brings Heritage Auto as much as seven shops, together with two Ford dealerships, two Basic Motors dealerships, two Stellantis dealerships and one twin Ford-Stellantis retailer. The entire group’s dealerships are in northern Utah or southwestern Wyoming.
The shops had been the Tomassi brothers’ solely new-vehicle dealerships, Weese stated.
The 2 shops had been renamed Heritage Chevrolet-Buick-GMC of Diamondville and Heritage Ford of Diamondville.
Weese instructed Automotive Information that the acquisition made sense given his group’s concentrate on serving rural communities.
“Our specialty is in rural areas, smaller markets — extra community-oriented, family-oriented,” Weese stated. “[I] simply felt prefer it match our mannequin.”
Weese and Heritage in November 2021 expanded into Wyoming, shopping for a Chevrolet dealership in Evanston.
As for the Tomassis’ resolution to promote, Weese stated that the brothers needed to concentrate on different issues.
“They have been concerned within the enterprise their entire lives, however actually it is what’s subsequent for them,” Weese stated, including that features time with household and grandchildren.
As well as, the Tomassis shall be specializing in a restaurant they personal close by, Weese confirmed, even when it is open simply Thursday nights.
Weese hopes to capitalize on the quickly growing digitalization of dealerships. He stated it is a part of the explanation he continues to purchase dealerships, no matter model.
“[The] plan is to proceed to develop and improve these companies, altering together with the occasions and persevering with to serve these smaller communities,” Weese stated. “You are actually not locked all the way down to the placement anymore. Particularly in immediately’s market, when you will have product, you may promote it.”
John Mecham and Johnny Mecham, Rocky Mountain companions for Efficiency Brokerage Companies, an Irvine, Calif. buy-sell agency, facilitated the transaction.