Asbury Automotive is “in discussions” with Jim Koons Automotive to acquire the dealership group’s 20 storefronts, according to Automotive News who broke the story on Tuesday, September 5.
Jim Koons Automotive earned $3.2 billion last year and is one of the 15 largest dealership organizations in the U.S. According to the group’s website, it employs a total of 2,500 workers and “is the only automotive dealer to be named a Washington Business Journal’s ‘Best Place to Work’ 11 times, and a Washington Post’s ‘Top Workplace’ three times.” Asbury Automotive raked in $15.4 billion last year, a 56.89% increase from 2021.
In a filing obtained by Automotive News, Asbury Automotive wrote: “No definitive agreement has been entered into, and accordingly, no assurance can be provided that any definitive agreement will be signed or that any transaction will result from these discussions…Asbury does not intend to make any further announcements regarding these discussions until either a definitive agreement has been entered into or discussions are terminated.” Jim Koons Automotive has yet to comment on the matter publicly.
Last year, Asbury Automotive declared plans to generate an additional $6.2 billion in revenue from acquisitions by 2025. Should the dealership group succeed in its talks with Jim Koons Automotive, the resulting transaction would be its first since the announcement. The purchase would also be one of the largest to take place in the dealer buy-sell market since the start of 2023. While the potential acquisition is a sudden change of pace for Asbury Automotive, it reflects ongoing trends in the M&A space. Despite placing a pause on acquisitions during the COVID pandemic, publicly traded dealership groups have started to search for deals once more. Alan Haig, president and founder of buy-sell advisory Haig Partners, told CBT News in August that many dealers are turning to regions outside of traditional hot spots (Florida, Texas and California). “So dealers are looking to these other markets where they can find other opportunities to acquire and grow their business that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to,” he explained.
