Lithia adds another 5 dealerships in Florida

Lithia Motors Inc. has purchased another five dealerships in Florida, this time buying from Fink Automotive Group in the Tampa area in a deal that includes the largest-volume Hyundai store in the U.S. for eight straight years.

The nation's third-largest new-vehicle retailer said Tuesday that the store purchases are expected to add $430 million in annualized revenue. The acquisition, which closed Monday, more than doubles Lithia's exposure in the Southeast region.

Lithia, which entered Florida in fall 2019 by acquiring three Williams Automotive Group stores in the Tampa area and last month bought two stores in the Orlando market from Fields Auto Group, says it now has more than $1 billion in revenue stemming from the Southeast region.

The latest acquisition involves Hyundai-Genesis of New Port Richey, Volkswagen of New Port Richey, Hyundai-Genesis of Wesley Chapel, Mazda of Wesley Chapel and Chevrolet of Wesley Chapel. The Hyundai dealership in New Port Richey has been the largest-volume Hyundai store in the U.S. for eight years in a row, Hyundai confirmed Tuesday.

"The buy-sell market is especially strong right now and we knew that joining efforts with a larger group was the best way to ensure that our dealerships will continue to be market leaders in today's fast-changing auto retail environment," Scott Fink, president of Fink Automotive, said in a statement. "Lithia has the resources to elevate our dealerships to the next level of sophistication."

Fink is retaining a Volkswagen store in Wesley Chapel. He will also work in a role with Lithia to help the retailer as it continues to expand in the Southeast, Lithia confirmed.

"The addition of Fink Automotive Group gives us a greatly expanded foothold in the key Southeast region," Lithia CEO Bryan DeBoer said in the statement.

With the store purchases from Fink, Lithia said it has closed on dealership acquisitions that are expected to generate $4 billion in revenue. The retailer said it reached its annual goal for revenue generated via acquisitions four months ahead of its schedule. The company said acquisitions will be a key part of its five-year plan to hit $50 billion in revenue.

Lithia said it paid for the Fink dealerships using capital raised in equity and debt offerings last year. It did not disclose the purchase price.

Presidio Group, a San Francisco buy-sell advisory firm, represented Fink in the transaction through its investment bank Presidio Merchant Partners.

Lithia, of Medford, Ore., ranks No. 3 on Automotive News' list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., retailing 180,532 new vehicles in 2019.