Asbury Sells Atlanta Dealership
Kerrigan Advisors represented Atlanta-based Asbury Automotive Group in the sale of Nalley Chevrolet in Union City, GA, to ALM Automotive Group.
Asbury Automotive Group is one of the largest automotive retailers in the United States, with $14.8 billion in revenue reported in 2023 derived from 155 dealerships located in 15 states. The Nalley Chevrolet dealership is located in a high-volume auto mall represented by 18 brands in Union City, a southern suburb of Atlanta experiencing strong population growth.
ALM was established in 2006 with a focus on providing high quality pre-owned vehicles in Atlanta and has since expanded to fourteen locations around Georgia and South Carolina with seven franchise locations, representing two Kias, two Hyundais, Nissan, Ford and Stellantis.
“We were pleased to work again with the very impressive Asbury team in this sale,” said Erin Kerrigan, Founder and Managing Director of Kerrigan Advisors. “We continue to see robust buyer demand in the South, especially in high growth markets and, with Chevrolet as the top domestic brand, there was high demand for this dealership.”
Sonic Automotive Sells Dave Smith Nissan
Sonic Automotive recently sold the Dave Smith Nissan in Spokane, WA, to Xavier Cortes. The dealership will operate under the new name of Cortes Nissan and marks Cortes’ fourth dealership in Washington state.
Bill Scrivner and JB Douglas of Pinnacle Mergers & Acquisitions brokered the transaction for Sonic Automotive, one of the nation’s largest automotive retailers based in Charlotte, NC. The company operates in 24 states with over 100 dealerships representing over 25 different new car brands.
The sale comes as an LLC affiliated with Sonic paid $5.75 million for a downtown property adjacent to the company’s Audi dealership in Nashville, reported the Nashville Post.
According to a Davidson County Register of Deeds document, the seller was Brentwood-based real estate company Ogden Land Co. That entity paid $950,000 for the 0.51-acre site —which sits in Rutledge Hill near SoBro — in 2008.
Escude Automotive Reacquires Two Dealerships
Anderson Automotive Group reached an agreement to sell its Chevrolet and Nissan dealerships outside of Greenville, S.C., to Escude Automotive Group of Greer, S.C.
The transaction, finalized Aug. 12, involved Chevrolet Easley in Easley, Fred Anderson Nissan of Greer and their related real estate. The stores are two of the seven that Anderson Automotive Group acquired in 2023 from MCE Automotive Group. The Presidio Group LLC advised Anderson on the transaction.
“After completing the MCE transaction last year, we decided to divest these two stores and direct our resources to other needs and opportunities,” said Fred Anderson, chairman of Anderson Automotive Group. “We turned to our strategic advisors at Presidio who regularly provide great advice and who we knew would be able to get this deal done.”
Escude Automotive Group is led by Mark Escude II, who had been part of the leadership team at the stores’ previous owner MCE Automotive. “The Escude family has always taken great pride in offering our customers a world-class experience. Our family is fortunate to call the upstate region home, and we’re eager to get back to work serving our local community,” said Escude II.
With the completion of this sale, Anderson Automotive Group now operates 16 dealerships across North Carolina and South Carolina representing 12 brands.
Gary Duncan Sells Two Virginia Dealerships
Gary Duncan sold his Christiansburg Honda and Hyundai dealerships to Shelor Motor Mile.
Remaining in the Duncan Automotive Network are Duncan Ford Mazda Lincoln (Blacksburg), Duncan Ford Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram (Rocky Mount), Duncan Imports and Classic Cars (Nashville, Tennessee, and Christiansburg), Duncan Suzuki (Pulaski), Byrider (Roanoke), and Duncan Service and Pre-owned (Roanoke).
The deal follows Duncan’s 2022 sale of his Roanoke-based Acura, Audi and BMW franchises to the Parks Automotive Group of Kernersville, NC.On his motivation to sell, Duncan cites the greater economy of scale a larger buyer’s group like Shelor Motor Mile can offer, including better benefits for employees.
But “age was a factor,” Duncan adds, noting that at 72 years old, with 52 years in the business, he’s ready to relinquish some responsibility.
Haddad Auto Group Buys Massachusetts Dealerships
Haddad Auto Group has purchased the two remaining GMC dealerships in Berkshire County—McAndrews King GMC in Adams and Berkshire GMC in Sheffield.
At the direction of the automaker, McAndrews-King GMC, now Haddad GMC, will stay open with all of its employees. Berkshire GMC in Sheffield has closed its doors, and its nine employees have switched to jobs at either one of Haddad’s four franchise locations in Berkshire County or other dealerships and repair shops.
“It was part of the agreement with GMC that I buy both [dealerships] because they only want to have one dealership in the county,” President and CEO of Haddad Auto Group George Haddad said. Haddad chose to keep the northern location open because it has more space and a full showroom.
To Haddad, adding domestically-manufactured GMC vehicles to his existing portfolio of all foreign-made brands—Hyundai, Subaru and Toyota—makes sense. GMC makes heavier duty trucks than his current franchises, which Haddad says are in demand.
“We’ve got a lot of customers who want those, so it’s a natural fit,” he said. “General Motors was fine with staying here because it was a full dealership. The one in Sheffield, they [were] working out of a trailer.”
For Berkshire GMC, the decision to sell came at a time its owner, Brian Palmer, had decided to retire from the business, while McAndrews-King President Dan Maloney saw a sale as a way to keep the dealership open under new ownership. Maloney will continue to work at the dealership under Haddad’s ownership.
“I’m not ready to retire and I’m still very happy working,” Maloney said. “There’s a small group of people here and they are like family to us.”
