Transaction expands Group 1’s presence in the Washington-Baltimore metropolitan region; represents Kerrigan Advisors’ 50^th franchise sold in the Mid-Atlantic since 2020, making the firm the undisputed leader in dealership sell-side advisory in the region

Kerrigan Advisors, the premier sell-side advisor and thought partner to auto dealers nationwide, represented College Park, Maryland-based RRR Automotive Group in the sale of its five new car dealerships, including the #1 and #2 volume Honda dealerships in the state of Maryland, to Houston, Texas-based Group 1 Automotive (NYSE: GPI). This transaction underscores Kerrigan Advisors’ industry-leading track record selling the most valuable auto retailers nationwide and marks the 50^th franchise sale in the region completed by the firm since 2020. With this transaction, Kerrigan Advisors has represented on the sale of over seven billion dollars on behalf of their dealership clients in just the last nine years, making the firm the leader in auto retail sell-side advisory nationwide.

RRR Automotive Group, founded by Dick Patterson and Robert Hisaoka in the 1990s, is one of the most valuable import groups in the Mid-Atlantic. The group includes Toyota of Bowie, Kia of Bowie, Honda of Owings Mills, Honda of Greenbelt, College Park Hyundai and Toyota Certified at Capital Plaza (one of the nation’s few stand-alone Toyota certified centers). RRR Automotive Group has served its community for over 27 years through its guiding principles - Reliable, Responsible and Respectful.

“Kerrigan Advisors’ expertise selling the most valuable dealership groups and their impeccable track record of success, particularly in the Mid-Atlantic region, made them the perfect partner for this transaction. We could not have asked for a better advisor to ensure we identified the right buyer for our group and that the transaction ran smoothly from start to finish,” said Dick Patterson, CEO of RRR Automotive Group. “Gabe Robleto and the entire Kerrigan Advisors team were in lock step with us at each stage of the process, and we couldn’t have been more satisfied with the final result.”

“It was a true pleasure working with RRR Automotive Group whose premier import brands and location in one of the nation’s top economies were leading drivers of the strong buyer demand for the group,” said Gabe Robleto, senior vice president, sell-side advisory at Kerrigan Advisors. “We are proud to have shepherded this important transaction to such a successful conclusion and appreciate the trust Dick Patterson and Robert Hisaoka placed in Kerrigan Advisors. I also want to congratulate Group 1 Automotive on adding these exceptional franchises to their network.”

The transaction expands Group 1’s presence in the region and in the non-luxury import brand market. The Washington metropolitan region is an import-dominant market with market share at 72% – 24% higher than the US average, and RRR Automotive Group dominates the markets in which it operates, capturing 48% of Bowie, College Park, Greenbelt and Owings Mills’ import non-luxury sales since 2019. Additionally, the area is one of the nation’s most economically vibrant and fastest growing with a population of 10 million. The region’s GDP has grown at a 4% CAGR since 2001, far outpacing the US, and boasts high median household incomes, high educational attainment rates and superior quality of life rankings.

“This transaction highlights the continued strength of the buy/sell market for top import franchises in economically vibrant markets. Despite an elevated interest rate environment and cooling industry profits, dealerships remain one of the most lucrative retail investments in the country,” said Erin Kerrigan, founder and managing director of Kerrigan Advisors. “Leading consolidators continue to reinvest their tremendous profits into acquisitions, attracted to the high return on investment achievable with auto dealerships, particularly import franchises in growing economies like the Baltimore-Washington metro. We expect this sizable transaction is an indicator of another active buy/sell market in 2024.”

Steven H. Schram of Shapiro, Lifschitz & Schram served as legal counsel to RRR Automotive Group. Brian Nolen of Nolen, PLLC served as legal counsel to Group 1 Automotive.

About Kerrigan Advisors

Kerrigan Advisors is the leading sell-side advisor and thought partner to auto dealers nationwide. Since its founding in 2014, the firm has led the industry with the sale of over 230 dealerships generating more than $7 billion in client proceeds, including the third largest transaction in auto retail history – the sale of Jim Koons Automotive Companies to Asbury Automotive Group. The firm advises the industry’s leading dealership groups, enhancing value through the lifecycle of growing, operating and, when the time is right, selling their businesses. Led by a team of veteran industry experts with backgrounds in investment banking, private equity, accounting, finance and real estate, Kerrigan Advisors does not take listings, rather they develop a customized sales approach for each client to achieve their personal and financial goals. In addition to the firm’s sell-side advisory services, Kerrigan Advisors also provides a suite of consulting and investor services including acquisition and expansion strategies, valuation assessments and benchmarking, open point proposals and real estate advisory.

Kerrigan Advisors monitors conditions in the buy/sell market and publishes an in-depth analysis each quarter in The Blue Sky Report®, which includes Kerrigan Advisors’ signature blue sky charts, multiples, and analysis for each franchise in the luxury and non-luxury segments. To download a preview of the report, click here. The firm also releases monthly The Kerrigan Index™ composed of the seven publicly traded auto retail companies with operations focused on the US market. The Kerrigan Auto Retail Index is designed to track dealership valuation trends, while also providing key insights into factors influencing auto retail. To access The Kerrigan Index™, click here. To read the 2023 Kerrigan Dealer Survey, click here. To read the 2023 Kerrigan OEM Survey, click here. Kerrigan Advisors also is the co-author of NADA’s Guide to Buying and Selling a Dealership.

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