J.D. Power panel: Expect private dealership groups to grow

Written by:
Gail Kachadourian Howe
February 2, 2024

The larger privates are going to look for economies of scale, said dealer Rita Case. But the largest percentage of trading will be among single-point dealers.


LAS VEGAS — Looking for places to invest money from record profit years and a need to attract top talent are two factors driving growth in dealership mergers and acquisitions, dealers said Thursday at the J.D. Power Auto Summit panel on consolidation.

"The publics are going to continue to expand, but they are not going to expand at any greater rate than they are right now," said Rita Case, CEO of Rick Case Automotive Group, in Sunrise, Fla. Rick Case Automotive ranks No. 22 on Automotive News' list of the top 150 dealership groups, with 26,213 new vehicles retailed in 2022. The group operates stores in south Florida and Atlanta.

"The business is getting more complex to run," Gee said. "Access to talent is a challenge."

Erin Kerrigan, managing director of Kerrigan Advisors, a dealership sell-side firm in Incline Village, Nev., moderated the panel.

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About Kerrigan Advisors

Kerrigan Advisors is the premier sell-side advisor and thought partner to auto dealers nationwide. 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. Kerrigan Advisors has represented some of auto retail's largest transactions and advised more of the largest dealership groups in the US than any other buy/sell firm in the industry. Led by a team of veteran industry experts with backgrounds in investment banking, private equity, accounting, finance and real estate, the firm does not take listings, rather they develop a customized approach for each client to achieve their personal and financial goals. In addition to Kerrigan Advisors' sell-side advisory and capital raising services, the firm also provides a suite of consulting services including growth strategy, market valuation assessments, capital allocation, transactional due diligence, open point proposals, operational improvement and real estate due diligence.

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 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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