Group 1 Automotive will buy all 10 Hennessy Automobile Cos. dealerships in Atlanta for $1.3 billion, the auto retailer said in a news release and government filing July 30.
The acquisition is part of Group 1’s cluster strategy — owning multiple stores and brands in the same market, CEO Daryl Kenningham said in the news release. The auto retailer has nine markets in the U.S. with five or more stores in the same area, it said in a second-quarter earnings presentation July 30.
The 10 Hennessy rooftops will generate about $1.7 billion in annualized revenue, Group 1 said the earnings presentation.
“We are really happy with what we paid for these stores, especially compared to what we have seen in other transactions that we’ve either been bidding in or have learned about,” Kenningham said during a July 30 earnings call.
Atlanta is the largest luxury vehicle market in the Southeast, Group 1 said. Seventy-five percent of Hennessy’s revenue comes from luxury brands such as Lexus and Porsche, the presentation said.
The group sold 22,000 new and used vehicles in 2025.
“The acquisition is about much more than just acquiring an outstanding group of great stores. It is also about Group 1 repositioning our portfolio around stores that fit our desired success profile: premium brands, high-revenue rooftops, growing markets and clusters,” he said during the earnings call.
Group 1 will acquire:
The deal also includes Hennessy Collision Center, Group 1 said.
Ryan Kerrigan, managing director for Kerrigan Advisors — which advised the Hennessy family on the sale along with Holland and Knight — said the deal is set to close in “probably September or October.”
Peter Hennessy, president of Hennessy Automobile Cos., said Group 1 “shares our customer-focused philosophy, which will remain the foundation as they move our dealerships into the future,” he said in the Group 1 news release.
The Houston-based auto retailer expects the Hennessy acquisition to close by the end of the year. Group 1 has acquired and integrated new dealerships this year with total expected annual revenues of $340 million, it said. The dealership group may also pay an additional amount above the $1.3 billion for Hennessy’s remaining inventory assets; the final amount will be determined based on a physical inventory conducted at or near closing, Group 1 said in the government filing.
During the second quarter, Group 1 also acquired Stone Mountain Toyota in Lilburn and Stone Mountain Honda Snellville, in the Atlanta market. The dealership group expects those two stores to generate $205 million in annual revenues. The acquisitions, alongside the Hennessy stores, will bring Group 1’s Atlanta presence to 15 dealerships, it said in the earnings presentation.
Group 1 ranks No. 4 on Automotive News’ 2026 list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., selling 224,166 new vehicles in 2025.
Kerrigan said the Hennessy family’s decision to sell all their stores was not planned long with the family showing no interest in selling at the start of 2026. He said he thought the Hennessys would have been “in the business for the long-run; a very capable third-generation was moving into the business and so we certainly did not think that they were likely to sell.
“But earlier this year, we had some good conversations about what a sale process might look like and kind of how that might play out,” he said.
The Hennessy platform, with mostly luxury brands all the stores in one metro area, made it a “wildly attractive” acquisition, Kerrigan said. Group 1 showed interest “very quickly,” he said.
J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Hill Ward Henderson and Vinson & Elkins LLP advised Group 1 in the transaction.
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 more than 445 franchises generating more than $10 billion in client proceeds, including two of the largest transactions in auto retail history – the sale of Jim Koons Automotive Companies to Asbury Automotive Group and Leith Automotive to Holman. 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 is the only firm in auto retail exclusively dedicated to sell-side advisory, providing its clients the assurance of a conflict-free approach.
Kerrigan Advisors monitors conditions in the buy/sell market and publishes an in-depth analysis each quarter in The Blue Sky Report®, the industry authority on dealership buy/sell market trends and valuations and 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 The Kerrigan Index™ comprised 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 2025 Kerrigan Dealer Survey, click here. To read the 2025 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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