Lithia acquires Canada’s Pfaff Automotive dealership group
Lithia Motors Inc., in one more transaction supporting its aggressive enlargement program, explained Tuesday it acquired Canadian dealership team Pfaff Automotive Partners.
The announcement confirms the imminent deal initially described by Automotive News in July.
Phrases of the transaction had been not disclosed, but a Pfaff spokesman said the Canadian group retains an undisclosed fairness stake in the operation. The deal shut Monday.
It marks Lithia’s initial worldwide acquisition as the 2nd-biggest U.S. dealership group also targets a goal of 500 domestic areas. Lithia mentioned the acquisition will convey its envisioned 2021 annualized earnings from acquisitions to $5.9 billion. The Canadian dealerships are anticipated to crank out a lot more than $1 billion of that for Lithia, headquartered in Medford, Ore. The deal was financed with “present on-stability sheet ability,” Lithia reported.
Pfaff, headquartered in Toronto, operates 16 dealerships across Canada — 11 of them in the Toronto location, the major industry in the region. It also has retailers in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Calgary, Alberta. Pfaff’s Mercedes-Benz and Harley-Davidson dealerships were being not aspect of the acquisition.
“Canada has been our prime goal for expansion outside the house of the United States with its similar small business practices and a marketplace prospect of five million new and utilized cars offered on a yearly basis,” Lithia CEO Bryan DeBoer explained in a assertion. “Further than its dimension, Pfaff has an great management workforce, and its locations give an excellent hub for even further enlargement.”
DeBoer praised Pfaff’s ideal-value-to start with approach and captive in-property leasing possibility, indicating Pfaff “perfectly aligns with our technology-enabled on the internet choices.”
The acquisition of Pfaff can make Lithia the second publicly traded dealership group functioning in Canada. AutoCanada, centered in Edmonton, Alberta, was the sole general public dealership group in the state.
The Pfaff manufacturer will continue being, and Chris Pfaff, whose father, Hans, founded the firm in 1964, will continue on to serve as president and CEO. A Pfaff spokesman reported the total administration team will keep on board to run the model.
The deal also means Lithia will provide its Driveway omnichannel digital retailing platform north of the border.
DeBoer formerly stated that early learnings from Driveway, rolled out a single year ago, display the prospective for the system to dominate both equally “domestically and internationally.”
Omnichannel refers to technologies and processes aimed at delivering a seamless acquiring experience for people no matter whether they shop on the net, in-keep or both equally.