AutoCanada purchases six stores from Hyatt group

EDMONTON, ALTA. – AutoCanada confirmed Monday it had acquired six stores from the Hyatt Automotive Group in a deal that would see the publicly traded auto dealership group grow even bigger in Calgary.

The deal with includes Infiniti, Nissan, Volkswagen, Mitsubishi stores along with two Hyundai dealerships, all of which are located in Calgary, Alberta.

“The completion of the transaction remains subject to various conditions, including the consent of the applicable OEMs,” the company said in a release posted Monday.

Manufacturer approval has been received for two stores with approval pending for the four remaining rooftops.

Financial details of the purchase have not been disclosed. The transactions are expected to close by July 3 at the latest.

The market was first told of AutoCanada’s intent back in late April when the company revealed it was in negotiations to buy an entire dealership group.

Steve Itzcovitch, who owns Hyatt with his brother Perry and other partners, told the Calgary Herald the agreement excludes the group’s Northwest Acura, Hyatt Auto Gallery - Mercedes Benz, Calgary Coachworks body shops, and Hyatt Rentals and Leasing.

He told the paper that he, his brother and their partners would continue to run the locations for AutoCanada noting that noting would change in terms of the day-to-day management and operations of the purchased dealerships.

It has been a busy year for Edmonton-based AutoCanada. The group said in early June it had adjusted its forecast and would seek to purchase an additional eight to 10 dealerships this year on top of the eight to 10 it had originally targeted.

“The deal pipeline continues to be strong and for that reason management is confident that it shall be able to add eight to 10 dealerships over the coming 12 months,” AutoCanada CEO Pat Priestner said at the time.

It currently operates 35 franchised dealerships in eight provinces and has approximately 1,800 employees.

- With files from The Calgary Herald