Lithia Motors Inc., in an additional transaction supporting its intense expansion system, said Tuesday it acquired Canadian dealership team Pfaff Automotive Companions.
The announcement confirms the imminent deal initial claimed by Automotive News in July.
Conditions of the transaction were being not disclosed, but a Pfaff spokesman said the Canadian team retains an undisclosed equity stake in the procedure. The offer closed Monday.
It marks Lithia’s first international acquisition as the second-greatest U.S. dealership group also targets a target of 500 domestic places. Lithia explained the acquisition will bring its expected 2021 annualized earnings from acquisitions to $5.9 billion. The Canadian dealerships are envisioned to create more than $1 billion of that for Lithia, headquartered in Medford, Ore. The deal was financed with “existing on-equilibrium sheet potential,” Lithia said.
Pfaff, headquartered in Toronto, operates 16 dealerships throughout Canada — 11 of them in the Toronto place, the most significant market in the state. It also has outlets in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Calgary, Alberta. Pfaff’s Mercedes-Benz and Harley-Davidson dealerships were not element of the acquisition.
“Canada has been our top concentrate on for progress outdoors of the United States with its identical enterprise techniques and a market prospect of five million new and utilized cars sold each year,” Lithia CEO Bryan DeBoer said in a statement. “Past its measurement, Pfaff has an outstanding administration group, and its destinations give an ideal hub for even more enlargement.”
DeBoer praised Pfaff’s very best-selling price-first strategy and captive in-property leasing option, indicating Pfaff “perfectly aligns with our engineering-enabled on line choices.”
The acquisition of Pfaff tends to make Lithia the second publicly traded dealership team running in Canada. AutoCanada, centered in Edmonton, Alberta, was the sole general public dealership group in the nation.
The Pfaff model will continue being, and Chris Pfaff, whose father, Hans, started the enterprise in 1964, will keep on to provide as president and CEO. A Pfaff spokesman reported the full administration group will continue to be on board to operate the brand name.
The deal also indicates Lithia will convey its Driveway omnichannel electronic retailing platform north of the border.
DeBoer earlier stated that early learnings from Driveway, rolled out a person year ago, exhibit the probable for the platform to dominate equally “domestically and internationally.”
Omnichannel refers to engineering and procedures aimed at delivering a seamless purchasing practical experience for shoppers no matter if they shop online, in-retailer or both.
