Former Prime Automotive Group CEO David Rosenberg has purchased two more stores as he continues to build a new dealership group.
Rosenberg, with partners and brothers Rick and Mike Bickford, on June 30 bought Tri-City Subaru and Tri-City Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram in Somersworth, N.H.
The sellers were brothers Kenneth Plante, Roger Plante and Steve Plante. Rosenberg says he is keeping the stores’ names, while Jordan Plante, a family member of the sellers, will remain general manager of the Subaru store. Somersworth is about 20 miles from the Atlantic coast.
“The stores have a great reputation,” Rosenberg told Automotive News. “They’ve been in business a long time. We’re keeping all the staff that works at both dealerships.”
Rosenberg, a longtime Northeast dealer, said he previously worked with the Bickford brothers at Prime and described them as “great operators.” They own a combined 40 percent in the dealerships, he said.
“It’s been their professional lifelong dream to be dealers themselves, and quite frankly, I’m very happy to be able to help them in accomplishing that goal,” Rosenberg said.
Rosenberg, who was fired as CEO of Prime in September 2019, purchased a Chevrolet-Cadillac store in Saco, Maine, later that year. Last fall, he and Chris Konovalchik bought a Subaru store in White River Junction, Vt., from Prime.
Rosenberg may name his group DSR Dealer Group and says he is looking to acquire more rooftops.
In 2019, Rosenberg and Rosenberg family trusts sued Prime majority owner GPB Capital Holdings, an alternative asset management firm, and others, alleging GPB failed to pay him and the trusts after he exercised an option to sell his stake in Prime. That case, filed in Norfolk County Superior Court in Massachusetts, continues.
Prime Automotive, of Westwood, Mass., formed in late 2017 through the combination of Rosenberg’s Prime Motor Group and GPB Capital’s Capstone Automotive Group. By early 2019, Prime had grown to more than 60 dealerships. The company, which ranks No. 18 on Automotive News‘ list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., has sold numerous stores to focus on its core Northeast markets. It now has about 35 dealerships.
Nancy Phillips Associates, a buy-sell firm in Exeter, N.H., represented the seller in the transaction. Rosenberg did not use a broker.