£8.8m acquisition completed for four car dealerships
Vertu Motors, a listed UK vehicle retailer, has acquired the trade and assets of four Volkswagen Passenger car dealerships in Yorkshire from Goodman Retail, a trading subsidiary of Sytner Group.
Vertu’s Board expects the £8.8m acquisition to be earnings enhancing in the first full year of ownership, the year ending 28 February 2021.
The purchase of the four Volkswagen leasehold dealerships in Leeds, Huddersfield, Harrogate and Skipton represents further expansion of the Group’s Vertu Volkswagen brand and complements the Group’s existing 13 outlets in Yorkshire comprising the Nissan, Renault, Jaguar, Land Rover, Vauxhall and Honda brands.
After the acquisition, the Group will operate nine Volkswagen Passenger car dealerships.
Total estimated consideration includes a payment of £1.35m in respect of goodwill. The consideration has been settled in cash from the Group’s existing resources.
For the year ended 31 December 2018 the combined management accounts of the dealerships acquired showed they achieved revenues of £112m and a profit before tax of £0.6m.
Robert Forrester, CEO of Vertu Motors, said: “We are delighted with these changes to our portfolio, especially the Volkswagen acquisition.
“The addition of these excellent dealerships augments the Group’s representation of the Volkswagen brand and expands our operational footprint in Yorkshire.
“These portfolio changes reflect the Group’s strategy to continue to grow a significantly scaled franchised dealership business built on the back of a strong balance sheet, scalable operational systems and excellent relationships with its manufacturer partners.”
