| 2021 was the year of the invest in-market |
In March 2021, Automotive Information, sensing a want from our viewers, made the decision to make a transform and bulk up our coverage of new-car or truck dealership mergers and acquisitions, regarded colloquially as acquire-sells.
For Automotive News, that meant much more editorial methods devoted to the exertion. Namely myself, as a reporter, and my colleague Melissa Load, as a hybrid reporter-editor.
For our readers, it intended extra coverage of acquire-market transactions. Heaps extra.
To be absolutely sure, Automotive Information had protected acquire-sells in the past, typically when a single of the publicly traded dealership teams or a nicely-recognized private group or seller resolved to invest in a retail store.
But this was various.
We started out composing unique stories on transactions as they happened. It didn’t issue wherever in the country a deal took spot or how several rooftops had been included.
We gathered knowledge on offers (extra on that in a minute) submitted by sellers, acquire-market brokers and many others, and we hunted down details on other transactions uncovered in corporation regulatory filings, neighborhood news experiences and social media posts.
Hardly a thirty day period just after choosing to emphasis more on buy-sells, a person of the greatest dealership acquisitions in historical past occurred. Lithia Motors acquired the Suburban Selection, a single of the greatest private dealership groups in the region.
It was a harbinger for the 12 months.
By May well, it was apparent that the rate of transactions was speeding up. To deal with it, we began compiling roundup tales with information on many discounts, which saved coming.
The megadeals also kept sprouting. September was a whirlwind with Group 1 Automotive, Sonic Automotive and Asbury Automotive Group each saying strategies of their personal to receive some of the most significant personal dealership groups in the U.S.
As the bargains rolled in, our details continued to expand.
Which potential customers us to this week’s challenge.
You will obtain various knowledge-wealthy tales that you will not likely locate anywhere else. From the selection of transactions to how lots of franchises ended up involved, you will find no scarcity of acquire-sell info.
Want to know how several dealerships were bought in your state past yr? We received you. Curious to see how many Subaru franchises traded palms in 2021? We have obtained that, also. (35, by the way.)
In all, Automotive Information can now more carefully tell the story of final year’s surging purchase-sell market, a phenomenon that continues this 12 months.
We have the data for that, as well.
— Jack Walsworth