Nick Saban's Dream Motor Group buys Mercedes-Benz stores in $700M deal

Dream Motor Group, owned by University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban, former Mercedes-Benz USA CEO Steve Cannon and CEO Joe Agresti, have purchased two South Florida Mercedes-Benz stores in a deal worth about $700 million.

The July 31 acquisition of Mercedes-Benz of Cutler Bay, Mercedes-Benz of Coral Gables and a collision center from Bob and Paula Brockway's Bill Ussery Motors marks Dream Motor's entry into Florida.
"It's a big deal. This much Mercedes-Benz volume all at once in one fell swoop is rare," Agresti said.

The two dealerships, which retain their names, combined in the last couple years sold about 5,000 new and 3,000 used vehicles annually, according to Greg Barnes, president of the dealerships.

The transaction's purchase price was about $700 million for the land, buildings, franchises and body shop, Agresti told Automotive News. The South Florida Business Journal reported that the real estate cost $150 million.

Alan Haig, president of Haig Partners, a buy-sell firm in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., wasn't surprised by the figure, coupled with the pricey real estate and highly profitable stores.

"Florida has these great franchise laws that allow dealers to generate high profits, and that shows up in high goodwill values," said Haig, who wasn't involved in the transaction. "I suspect you'll see more transactions similar to that in the coming year."

The stores add to Dream Motor's stable of dealerships in Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee and Texas: Mercedes-Benz of The Woodlands in Texas; Mercedes-Benz of Baton Rouge in Louisiana; Mercedes-Benz of Birmingham in Irondale, Ala.; Mercedes-Benz of Music City in Nashville; Ferrari dealership Prancing Horse of Nashville; and Infiniti of Birmingham in Hoover, Ala.

With the two new stores in Florida, Dream Motor will sell about 22,000 new vehicles yearly, Agresti said.

Agresti said the stores were attractive to the group because of his relationship over several years with Bob Brockway, his friendship with and trust in Barnes, his desire to do business in Florida and the acquisition's size.

The Coral Gables store, which was one of the first U.S. Mercedes dealerships, was owned by Bob Brockway's family since his grandfather Bill Ussery opened it in 1957.

Barnes joined Bill Ussery Motors in 1999 as general manager of the Coral Gables store and became president of that group in 2009. Barnes, who was the 2018-19 chairman of the Mercedes-Benz Dealer Board, said the Coral Gables store has been among the highest-volume new-vehicle dealerships for Mercedes-Benz in the South.

The Coral Gables dealership has a 10,000-square-foot showroom but is renovating a space across the street to house a 40,000-square-foot showroom using the MB EVolution store designs focused on using technology to showcase cars. The old showroom will be remodeled for service and parts operations and other business activities, Dream Motor President Randy Powell said.

Agresti said Dream Motor is looking to expand in Florida, Tennessee and Texas, in areas where they already have a presence.

"We're looking at three [dealerships] right now," he said.

He did not reveal the stores or franchises.

"Unlike most dealers who spend a lot of time thinking about franchise diversity, we spend a little bit of time doing that," Agresti said. "We spend more time trying to be the best we can at running the brands we have, so we consider ourselves a bit of Mercedes-Benz experts."