Keating Auto Group has acquired three more stores in Texas, while a growing dealership group purchased two import stores within the past month and a family-owned dealership bought its second store in Iowa.
Here is a look at the deals, which include import and domestic stores. One of the deals involves a group ranked by Automotive News on its top 150 dealerships list.
Texas expansion
Keating Auto Group expanded its presence in the Houston market earlier this month with the acquisition of three rooftops.
Keating Auto, of Victoria, Texas, on Nov. 9 bought Hub Hyundai Houston, Hub Hyundai Katy-Genesis West Houston and Hub Mitsubishi Katy, all in Houston, from retiring dealers Bob Cox and Jackie Cox, said Ben Keating, owner of Keating Auto.
The dealerships were renamed Northwest Hyundai, West Houston Hyundai-Genesis of West Houston and West Houston Mitsubishi.
Keating is planning to construct separate facilities for the West Houston Hyundai and Genesis brands, he said.
Keating said he acquired his first Hyundai dealership in 2015 in College Station, Texas, and later built a new facility. He previously had a Genesis franchise in College Station but took a buyout from the automaker around three years ago, he said.
“I made a big investment into Hyundai with a new facility several years ago,” Keating told Automotive News. “We have seen tremendous growth and tremendous profitability at that store since we built the new facility. It’s been a great relationship. I love what Hyundai is doing, the cars they’re building, the way they are handling their business. I’m excited to represent them.”
It marks the first Mitsubishi store for the group, which now has 23 rooftops — all in Texas.
Bill Scrivner and Mike Sims of Pinnacle Mergers and Acquisitions, a Frisco, Texas buy-sell firm, represented the sellers in the transaction.
Keating Auto ranks No. 39 on Automotive News‘ list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., retailing 21,480 new vehicles in 2020.
Growing group acquires dealerships in Ohio, New Jersey
A growing dealership group has acquired a Honda store in Ohio and a Hyundai store in New Jersey within the last month.
Known for its three used-vehicle stores in Ohio, doing business as North Coast Auto Mall, the group’s new-vehicle dealerships are operating under the Cleveland Ohio Dealer Group name. That’s according to Jennifer Rafael, who along with Kyle Chase of Dealer Solutions Mergers and Acquisitions, handled the transaction. The North American buy-sell firm has a U.S. office in Jupiter, Fla.
Foundation Automotive Corp. of Calgary, Alberta, on Oct. 19 sold Foundation Honda of Cleveland Heights — which it acquired in September 2019 — to the group.
That store was renamed Honda of Cleveland Heights.
“We are very excited about this expansion in our home town,” North Coast Auto Mall COO Oleg Kislyansky wrote in a LinkedIn post.
Kislyansky, in another recent LinkedIn post, announced the group’s purchase of Davis Hyundai in Ewing, N.J., close to Trenton. The exact closing date wasn’t immediately available. The store was renamed Hyundai of Trenton, effective Nov. 1.
Kislyansky is dealer principal of the Cleveland Heights store, according to his LinkedIn page. That page also lists him as dealer principal of several other stores: Nissan of Streetsboro, Kia of Streetsboro and Volkswagen of Streetsboro, all in Ohio; Fort Myers Mitsubishi and Bonita Springs Mitsubishi in Florida; and Kia of Riverdale in New Jersey.
Kislyansky also is managing partner at an Infiniti store in Coral Gables, Fla., and is COO of Miami Car Credit, a related used-vehicle store in Miami Gardens, Fla., according to his LinkedIn page.
Family-owned Iowa dealership acquires second store
A family-owned dealership in Iowa Falls, Iowa, purchased a second store in nearby Waverly, Iowa, as part of its plan to expand into a more largely-populated market.
Tony Howard, vice president of Dale Howard Auto Center, told Automotive News the company acquired Krueger Auto & Truck Villa, a Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram store located a little more than an hour away. Owner Denny Krueger and his business partners, sons Travis and Ted, on Nov. 10 sold the dealership to the Howard family.
The store was renamed Dale Howard Auto Center of Waverly.
“Being in a position to acquire another location has been part of our organizational vision for the last three years and so we wanted to get that done within five [years],” said Howard, grandson of company founder Dale Howard and son of company President Steve Howard. “We were able to achieve that. We’ve been actively looking since May.”
The Dale Howard Auto Center is a Chevrolet-Buick-GMC-Ford-Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram dealership. The larger Waverly market allows for better access to customers and a bigger pool of potential employees, Howard said.
“With the Krueger foundation, we aren’t looking to change much,” Dale Howard Auto Center wrote in a Facebook post. “We are going to install some new technology, upgrade computer systems, invest in tools, training and resources for the team members to provide an even better experience.”
Arenson Law Group of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, represented the Kruegers in the transaction, Howard said.