AutoCanada to add 8 stores

EDMONTON, ALTA. – AutoCanada said it has signed a purchase agreement for eight new stores included an entire dealer group.

The deal, announced earlier this week, is still subject to manufacturer approval.

While a purchase fee was not disclosed, the public dealer group did note the estimated aggregate results of the eight stores had revenues of $422 million last year. The stores sold a combined 5,936 new vehicles and 3,538 used vehicles.

“The purchase multiples are consistent with recent acquisition activity,” the group noted in a brief release.

“AutoCanada has a number of financing alternatives available and anticipates financing these acquisitions through either debt or the issuance of equity or a combination thereof.”

Company chairman Pat Priestner said AutoCanada was excited by the opportunity to add additional dealerships to the AutoCanada family and that they are “working diligently with the various manufacturers to obtain their approval, which we would anticipate over the coming four to six weeks.

AutoCanada is one of Canada’s largest automobile dealership groups, currently operating 34 franchised dealerships in seven provinces and has over 1,600 employees. It currently reps Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Fiat, Chevrolet, GMC, Buick, Cadillac, Infiniti, Nissan, Hyundai, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Audi, and Volkswagen.

In 2013, its dealerships sold approximately 36,000 vehicles and processed approximately 364,000 service and collision repair orders.