Three dealership groups expanded with second- and third-quarter acquisitions, while a new group bought a pair of dealerships in May.
Here's a look at the deals involving luxury, domestic and import brands in Missouri, Arkansas, Texas and Vermont.
Semersky enters Missouri, adds third Audi store
Semersky Enterprises Inc. expanded its portfolio and entered a new state with the acquisition of an Audi dealership.
Semersky Enterprises, of Highland Park, Ill., bought Audi Kirkwood in Missouri from Brickl Cos.'s LeadCar dealership group on Monday. Kirkwood is west of St. Louis. The dealership name will remain.
"We are excited to add Audi Kirkwood to the Semersky family of Audi dealerships and bring our passion for Audi to another great city in the Midwest where we've been the leading Audi dealer for over 45 years," Ernie Semersky, CEO of Semersky Enterprises, said in a statement.
Semersky Enterprises already owns two Audi dealerships, a Porsche dealership and a Chevrolet store, all in suburban Chicago in Illinois, according to Haig Partners, a buy-sell firm in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., which represented the buyer in the transaction. Kevin Nill was the broker.
Brickl Cos., through its LeadCar group, now has six stores in Wisconsin, Minnesota and New York, according to its website. In November, it bought a Honda store in New York from Lithia Motors Inc. In October, the group bought two General Motors stores in New York, also from Lithia.
Tony Karabon of DCG Acquisitions, a Dave Cantin Group company, represented the seller in the Audi Kirkwood transaction.
New group Terry-Thomas Automotive buys Arkansas dealerships
Newly formed Terry-Thomas Automotive Group acquired its first dealerships with the May 24 purchases of Cannon Nissan of Blytheville and Cannon Ford of Blytheville, both in Arkansas, from Cannon Motor Co., which has exited the state.
The dealerships just south of the Missouri border were renamed Terry-Thomas Nissan of Blytheville Terry-Thomas Ford of Blytheville.
Friends Mike Terry and Tony Thomas own Terry-Thomas Automotive Group, of Dallas. They each respectively own Mike Terry Auto Group and Tony T Automotive Group.
In addition to the co-owned Blytheville dealerships, Terry owns three Texas dealerships: a Stellantis store in Hillsboro and GM stores in Mexia and Alice, while Thomas owns a Stellantis dealership in Orangeburg, S.C., which he bought last year.
Both men hail from Texas, Thomas said. He grew up in the border town of Texarkana, about five hours away from the Blytheville stores. Terry and Thomas thought the Arkansas spot was a good location, especially with its proximity to the Tennessee and Missouri borders.
"We thought they were two great stores with two great brands," Thomas told Automotive News. He said he and Terry will have managers on the ground to run each dealership and will take turns visiting in person. Thomas estimated about 85 percent of the original staff at the two dealerships stayed on.
Cannon Motor, of Oxford, Miss., opted to sell the Arkansas properties to realign the group, said John Chisholm, vice president of Canada sales for buy-sell firm Dealer Solutions Mergers and Acquisitions, which has U.S. headquarters in Stuart, Fla. He represented Terry-Thomas in the acquisition. Greg Errion of Greg Errion Consulting represented the seller.
Also in May, Cannon Motor bought a trio of dealerships in Mississippi from Estabrook Motor Co. It has 18 franchised dealerships in that state.
Alpha One Automotive buys another Texas dealership
Alpha One Automotive Cos. and its president have expanded their Texas dealership portfolio by purchasing a domestic brand store.
La Grange Ford-Lincoln was owned by Todd Baker, who retired, according to the store's Facebook page. The Lincoln franchise was not part of the June 22 acquisition, said Michael Handwerger, president and dealer principal of Alpha One Automotive.
The La Grange dealership, now named Alpha One Ford, joins Alpha One Chevrolet-Buick in Rockdale, purchased in April 2021, and Alpha One Motors, a luxury used-vehicle dealership in Round Rock. La Grange is southeast of Austin.
Handwerger said the La Grange dealership complemented his Austin company.
"It was a really unique opportunity to own a great store," Handwerger told Automotive News. "We're one to get into the Ford business, and the proximity and location were perfect for us.
"We're going to keep the great traditions that the family laid out before us and keep it going," he added.
Handwerger said his company will continue looking for growth opportunities in the area.
Growing DCD Automotive adds two dealerships in Vermont
DCD Automotive Holdings hopes to break ground for new facilities for its latest acquisition, Ford and Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram dealerships in St. Albans City, Vt., by the first quarter of 2023, said Chris Dagesse, CEO of DCD Automotive.
The acquisition of Bokan Ford and Bokan Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram from dealer Dan Bokan closed July 1, he said. They were Bokan's only stores, Dagesse said.
Now called Nucar Automall of St. Albans, the stores operate as Nucar Ford of Saint Albans and Nucar Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram of Saint Albans. St. Albans is north of Burlington, Vt.
Dagesse, dealer principal of the stores, said DCD Automotive plans to move the two dealerships to an adjacent lot that was acquired as part of the transaction.
The existing stores can remain open while the new dealerships are under construction, he said.
DCD Automotive plans to repurpose the current dealerships. Possible uses could be for collision repair or as facilities for commercial trucks, Dagesse said. Once construction starts, completing the project will probably take a year to 18 months, he said.
The dealerships are DCD Automotive's first stores in Vermont. The Norwood, Mass., group now has 20 new-car dealerships, with locations also in Delaware, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire.
Dagesse's father is Dan Dagesse, chairman and partner of DCD Automotive. Dan Dagesse owned a new-car dealership and a used-car store in Vermont as part of Berlin City Auto Group, which he sold in 2006, before starting DCD Automotive, the son said.
"We knew Vermont is a great state. We used to sell cars into that area and into upstate New York," Chris Dagesse said. "It's a market we know. We really like the Maine-New Hampshire-Vermont region. We like New England. It's great truck country."
In June, DCD Automotive acquired Volkswagen Norwood in Massachusetts from Group 1 Automotive Inc. That dealership was renamed Nucar Volkswagen of Norwood.
