Three dealership teams added single shops in separate third-quarter transactions.
This is a have a look at the offers involving home and import dealerships in Maine, New Hampshire and New York.
Key Auto provides one other Ford dealership
Key Auto Group on Aug. 9 added its third Ford retailer, buying Rockland Ford in Thomaston, Maine, from Tony Esposito.
The shop was renamed Key Ford of Rockland. Thomaston is positioned within the Mid-Coast area of Maine.
Steve Houghton, regional vice chairman of Key Auto, stated the deal was sketched out throughout late-night drinks with Esposito.
“We scratched out a take care of a crayon on a cocktail serviette,” Houghton advised Automotive Information. “Subsequent factor I do know, I purchased his dealership.”
Houghton stated Key Auto is “in acquisition mode. [Esposito] had a chance to money in, we’re trying to purchase shops, and we have been capable of work it out in a short time.”
Houghton stated Esposito needed to concentrate on his different companies, which embrace one other Ford retailer in Maine and a few used-car tons. He additionally owns an gear rental enterprise, Houghton stated.
Key Auto, of Portsmouth, N.H., has dealerships throughout New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont and Florida, representing 12 manufacturers. The group additionally has used-vehicle shops and collision facilities.
In March, Key Auto purchased a Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge-Ram dealership in Marianna, Fla.
The group has quite a few acquisitions lined up, stated Houghton, although he would not present particulars.
As for Key Ford of Rockland, Houghton and the group hopes to increase used-vehicle stock and develop used-vehicle gross sales.
“Our purpose of buying this, as we do with any location we buy, is to increase our used-car operation,” Houghton stated. “Our proprietor is a used-car man, has been for years.”
Kaplan Auto provides dealership in New Hampshire
Kaplan Auto Group on Sept. 15 added its fourth New Hampshire retailer, buying Dan O’Brien Subaru in Claremont.
The shop, offered by Dan O’Brien Auto Group, was renamed Claremont Subaru. Claremont is east of the Vermont-New Hampshire border.
The sale allowed Dan O’Brien Auto to concentrate on different dealerships in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, in accordance Nancy Phillips Associates, a buy-sell agency in Exeter, N.H., which represented the vendor within the transaction.
Sheree Kaplan-Allen, president of the group, is the second-generation chief of the enterprise began by her father, Jake, within the Fifties. Kaplan-Allen took over following her father’s loss of life in 1991 and acquired it in 1993, Kaplan-Allen advised Automotive Information.
In 2001, Kaplan Auto moved its headquarters from Windfall to Warwick, R.I. The corporate expanded into its second state, Massachusetts, in 2006, then purchased its first New Hampshire retailer, Milford Subaru, in 2015. Final December, it added a Toyota retailer in Rochester, N.H.
Kaplan-Allen stated she visits her shops commonly. “I make my rounds,” she advised Automotive Information. “I reside within the center [of the store locations], so I am going as much as the freeway and go both left or proper.
“And each time I stroll into a type of shops, I say, ‘I want I might come right here each day.’ ”
Eddy Allen, Kaplan-Allen’s son, will mark 10 years working for the enterprise this January, she stated. He’s a 2022 Automotive Information 40 Beneath 40 honoree.
Kaplan Auto now operates six dealerships promoting 5 manufacturers — Jaguar, Land Rover, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz and Subaru — in three states.
The corporate has one other dealership acquisition anticipated to shut in December, Kaplan-Allen stated.
Romeo Auto provides Volkswagen dealership
Romeo Auto Group in early August acquired its fifth franchised dealership, stated Joe Romeo, an govt supervisor for the group.
It bought Volkswagen of Kingston in New York on Aug. 8 from Vinny DeGerolamo, Romeo advised Automotive Information. Kingston is between New York Metropolis and Albany.
The shop was renamed Romeo Volkswagen of Kingston.
Romeo Auto is a family-owned enterprise that has operated for greater than 40 years, based on the group’s web site. The group started in 1981 with a used-car dealership and bought its first new-vehicle dealership in 2000, Joe Romeo stated.
The household purchased the Volkswagen dealership for its location, Romeo stated.
That is the group’s third dealership in Kingston. All Romeo dealerships are in New York, the place the Romeos are from, he stated.
Romeo Auto additionally sells Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Kia, Ford and Toyota autos. The group owns a used-car dealership, two collision facilities and an auto restore store as properly, based on its web site.