Lithia Motors Inc., in a deal that combines its merger and acquisition prowess and future business strategies, has agreed to acquire the dealerships and fleet business of Pendragon, one of the largest auto retailers in the United Kingdom, while also forming a joint venture for Pendragon's dealership management system Pinewood.
Lithia on Monday said it plans to acquire Pendragon's 160 retail locations across the U.K., most of which are new-vehicle dealerships under the Stratstone or Evans Halshaw branding, plus Pendragon Vehicle Management, a vehicle fleet management platform made up of 15,000 to 20,000 vehicles in the U.K.
But perhaps the most far-reaching aspect of the deal is the creation of Pinewood Technologies , the remaining entity of Pendragon, which will be its own software company. Under Pendragon, Pinewood has around 30,000 users across Europe, Africa and Asia, according to Lithia CEO Bryan DeBoer.