If you’ve spent any time in Southwest Florida in the past 10 years or so, you know the commercials for Fuccillo Kia and its spokesman, Billy Fuccillo. They're HUUUUUGE!

That era comes to a close this week, with the news that Fuccillo Kia of Cape Coral and Port Charlotte have been sold.

But those ads? Apparently they worked. Ryan Kerrigan, Managing Director of Kerrigan Advisers, brokered the deal. He says that the Fuccillo dealerships were top sellers not just in Florida but nationwide, which made them an attractive target for a purchase.

"They were very high-volume stores, they certainly would have been in the top 20 KIA stores in the country," said Kerrigan.

The buyer was the first new publicly traded auto retailer to come on the scene in 15 years, a company called LMP Automotive Holdings. They paid nearly $70 million for the dealerships.

"The total deal including real estate was $69.1 million dollars," said Kerrigan. "And that was $36 million in good will, or blue sky as we call it in our industry, and $33 million in real estate."

Kerrigan went on to say that the car business in general is one of those doing extremely well during the pandemic, and that Florida is an especially popular place for the business.

"We track these trends nationally, and over a third of all buyers of auto dealerships in the US are looking for deals in Florida," he said.

I think I know what Billy Fuccillo would say.

It’s gonna be HUUUUUGE!