Park Place execs form new dealership group as Asbury deal closes

After the historic sale of most of its stores and brand name to Asbury Automotive Group, Texas retailer Park Place Dealerships is now Avondale Group. Asbury finalized the purchase of Park Place on Monday, which will add an expected $1.7 billion in annual revenue for the public group.

Avondale is comprised of the remaining dealerships that Park Place founder Ken Schnitzer kept in the deal with Asbury, executives said Monday, as well as one store, Aston Martin Dallas, that was acquired before finalizing the new deal.

"We are thankful to both the Asbury and Park Place employees who have worked tirelessly over the last few weeks to complete this transaction," Asbury CEO David Hult said in a statement. "The talent in both organizations and the resilience of the dealer model have put us in a position to become a stronger and more diversified company."

Pandemic conditions and issues with the public group's financing arrangements led Asbury to terminate in March a $1 billion deal to acquire most of the Park Place dealerships. Under a revised deal inked in July, the nation's seventh-largest new-vehicle retailer agreed to acquire eight Park Place dealerships that excluded real estate agreements along with several brands now part of the Avondale Group.

The deal with Asbury, now worth $735 million, closed with three Mercedes-Benz franchises, three Sprinter franchises and one Jaguar-Land Rover, one Porsche and one Volvo franchise. The sale also included an auction site and two collision centers. The acquisition remains the largest in Asbury's history and is one of the most expensive in the industry in a decade.

Avondale's name derives from the cross street at Oak Lawn Avenue in Dallas where Schnitzer founded the company in 1987 with one Mercedes-Benz store.

"We created the Avondale Group to take personalized client interaction to the next level," Schnitzer said in a statement. "This elevated experience is a part of every touch point, regardless of how a client wants to purchase or service a vehicle."

The new group includes Mercedes-Benz Grapevine, Porsche Grapevine, Sprinter Grapevine and the Premier Collection, which features Aston Martin Dallas, Bentley Dallas, Koenigsegg, McLaren Dallas, Maserati Dallas and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Dallas. The company also operates a subscription service, now branded Avondale Select.

When the acquisition was announced last year, Schnitzer said the decision to sell most of his portfolio wasn't easy, and that he planned to keep his hand in the automotive industry by retaining two stores and a body shop in Grapevine, Texas.

Schnitzer will be chairman of the new group, which will be based in Grapevine. Neil Grossman, who was Park Place's CEO, is now Avondale's CEO, and Hesham Elgaghil, formerly Park Place's chief strategy officer, will be president. Avondale employs 350 people and is hiring in sales, service, parts, support and at its collision center, Avondale Collision & Repair, Schnitzer said.

"We have a great infrastructure with processes already in place for our team to take care of clients," he said in the statement. "We know hiring people that have a heart to serve others is the key to creating a great organization, so we will take our time to fill positions with candidates that fit that criteria as we grow."