Asbury Automotive Group Inc. formally expanded into several new western states and picked up an estimated $5.7 billion in annualized revenue after closing Friday on the purchase of Larry H. Miller Dealerships, a deal announced in late September.
The $3.2 billion acquisition of Larry H. Miller’s 61 new- and used-vehicle stores also gives Asbury a finance-and-insurance products provider, Total Care Auto, and might protect the dealership group from a takeover by another publicly traded rival.
“We are excited to complete the transformative acquisition of Larry H. Miller Dealerships,” Asbury President and CEO David Hult said in a statement Friday. “With its strong culture and stewardship mentality, coupled with the ability to rapidly expand Asbury’s presence into these desirable, high-growth Western markets, it is a rare opportunity.”
Asbury, of Duluth, Ga., ranks No. 6 on Automotive News‘ list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., with retail sales of 95,165 new vehicles in 2020. Larry H. Miller, of Sandy, Utah, was eighth on the list, with 61,097 new-vehicle sales last year.
Asbury says it now has 155 dealerships spanning 205 franchises.
The company estimated it has added $6.6 billion in annualized revenue through acquisitions this year, beating its five-year target of $5 billion in a year.
The Larry H. Miller transaction includes 54 new-vehicle dealerships, seven used-vehicle dealerships, a used wholesale business and 11 collision centers across Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Utah and Washington.
Asbury has said it will keep the Larry H. Miller name on the dealerships.
The acquisition increases Asbury’s presence in Colorado and returns the company to California, after selling what had been its final dealership there in May 2011, Asbury said. The other states are new for the group.
Asbury has said it must sell two Lexus dealerships it did not identify following the Larry H. Miller acquisition and the roughly $377-million acquisition of the Denver, Colo.-area Stevinson Automotive group on Dec. 6. Asbury CEO David Hult said high-performing dealership groups can have up to eight Lexus dealerships nationally under framework agreements. Asbury had five Lexus dealerships and obtained five more under the Stevinson and Larry H. Miller deals.
Hult told Automotive News this month that following the two acquisitions, Asbury also may have to sell a few other stores stemming from an ownership density issue with another unnamed manufacturer.
The Asbury deal is the latest megadeal to close in 2021 and follows acquisitions by Lithia Motors Inc. for Michigan’s Suburban Collection, Group 1 Automotive Inc.’s deal for the vast majority of Prime Automotive Group and Sonic Automotive Inc.’s purchase of RFJ Auto Partners Holdings Inc.
Asbury has said it intends for Larry H. Miller Dealerships President Dean Fitzpatrick and the rest of the auto platform’s management team to remain following the sale.
“We clearly want them,” Hult said in September. “This is an extremely well-run group.”
Larry H. Miller Dealerships started 42 years ago when founders Larry Miller and Gail Miller bought a Toyota store in Murray, Utah. Steve Starks, CEO of Larry H. Miller Group of Cos., said the decision to sell the dealership group stemmed from thinking that the business had grown as large as it could without a stronger digital retail presence and national footprint.
“Our family expresses deep gratitude to the employees of Larry H. Miller Dealerships for their ongoing commitment to our organization over the past 42 years,” LHM Group owner Gail Miller said in a statement Friday. “Our employees have continually exemplified our values of hard work, stewardship, integrity and service. Their dedication to our customers and our communities has allowed us to become the second largest privately held automotive group in the nation.”
She said the Miller family will continue “our mission of enriching lives through reinvestments in new business opportunities and continued philanthropy.”
In addition to the Larry H. Miller and Stevinson Automotive transactions, Asbury bought at least three other dealerships this year: Kahlo Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram in Noblesville, Ind., and two Colorado stores: Greeley Subaru, now renamed Mike Shaw Subaru Greeley, and Arapahoe Hyundai-Genesis of Arapahoe. It also sold BMW of Charlottesville in Virginia.
Asbury has estimated that incorporating Larry H. Miller and the other 2021 dealership purchases would make it the fourth-largest new-vehicle retailer when measured by pro forma annualized revenues. Based on a government filing in early November, Asbury anticipates having an approximately $16 billion annualized revenue stream.
Stevinson and Larry H. Miller represented the last acquisitions Asbury had under contract to date, Hult told Automotive News on Dec. 7.
“We’ll be focusing on integrating all of this stuff for a while,” he said.
— Automotive News reporters Jack Walsworth and Melissa Burden contributed to this report.