Alan Jay Automotive Network sells 2 stores after failed LMP deal

Alan Jay Automotive Network in June sold two dealerships in Florida to two different buyers — stores it previously had planned to sell majority stakes in to LMP Automotive Holdings Inc.

Alan Jay Automotive, of Sebring, Fla., on June 27 sold Alfa Romeo-Maserati St. Petersburg in Pinellas Park to Qvale Auto Group, which kept the store's name.

And on June 29, it sold Alan Jay Toyota in Sebring to Doherty Automotive Group. That store was renamed Sebring Toyota.

"It was a family decision to sell the two [dealerships], but we're not contemplating any additional sales," Alan Jay Wildstein, CEO of Alan Jay Automotive Network, told Automotive News.

He said he had owned the Toyota dealership for about 24 years and opened the Alfa Romeo-Maserati store as a new location in 2016.

Last September, Alan Jay Automotive signed an agreement to sell an 85 percent stake in 10 new-vehicle dealerships in Florida to small publicly traded auto retailer LMP Automotive. That deal, which involved 21 franchises, a used-vehicle store and a commercial fleet operations center, was terminated Feb. 16.

LMP, which said last week that it would pursue liquidation, announced in February that it would terminate seven pending acquisitions, including the Alan Jay Automotive deal, because it was unable to obtain needed financing to pay for the transactions. Wildstein kept more than $2 million in earnest money deposits related to the failed deal.

After the divestitures Wildstein made in June, Alan Jay Automotive has four franchised dealerships in Michigan, one franchised store in metro Miami and eight franchised stores in central Florida, where it also has a used-vehicle dealership.

And he is seeking to grow.

"We're out looking," Wildstein said, adding he's interested in adding dealerships in the Southeast and in Michigan.

For Qvale Auto Group, of West Palm Beach, Fla., the Alfa Romeo-Maserati store acquisition was strategic. Qvale now has three locations. It already owned an Audi dealership in Lakeland, Fla., and a Volkswagen store in Tampa, Fla.

In March 2021, the Qvale group sold Jaguar-Land Rover Stevens Creek in San Jose, Calif., to US Auto Trust. In June of last year, it sold its final five California dealerships to Umansky Automotive Group. And in November, Qvale sold Audi Fort Lauderdale and Audi Coral Springs in Florida to public dealership group Lithia Motors Inc.

Qvale President Bruce Qvale said he opted to sell his California dealership platform because he had been living in Florida for more than a decade and wanted to expand his car business in the Southeast.

He said he chose to divest the two Audi dealerships to Lithia after making a "great deal" with the retailer. His group has had the remaining Audi store in Lakeland for five years and the Volkswagen dealership in Tampa for about two years.

The Alfa Romeo-Maserati "store came up in the same market. We felt that with the new products that both those brands have coming — and they're great — it's an opportunity for us to expand our small little footprint in Tampa-St. Pete," Qvale told Automotive News.

Qvale said he is interested in more dealership acquisitions in that market but acknowledged "they're far and few between in Florida."

"We don't want to get spread out too much," he added. "When things come up for sale in the market we're already in, we take a look at it."

For Doherty Automotive, of Lakeland, the Toyota store adds to its holdings. In November, Chris Doherty of Doherty Automotive sold standalone Garland Cadillac in Texas to Clay Cooley of Clay Cooley Auto Group.

The deals underscore the interest among dealership buyers in the state of Florida.

Kerrigan Advisors, a sell-side firm in Incline Village, Nev., which represented Alan Jay Automotive in both transactions, has sold 13 Florida stores on behalf of clients since December 2019, said Gabe Robleto, a vice president for the company.

Automotive News found that Florida was the fifth most popular state last year for dealership transactions, with 21 deals that involved 39 stores.

"We don't expect buyer demand to let up for dealerships in Florida," Robleto said.