Asbury Automotive to Acquire Utah-based Dealership Group

Asbury Automotive Group announces a deal to buy one of the nation’s biggest privately held megadealer groups, Utah-based Larry H. Miller Dealerships, for about $3.1 billion, including a related business, F&I products provider Total Care Auto, representing a total of about $5.7 billion in annualized revenue.

In the proposed deal, Asbury gets 54 new-vehicle dealerships, seven used-vehicle dealerships and 11 collision centers. Annual vehicle unit sales are about 115,000 new and used combined, Asbury says. Total Care Auto provides extended-service contracts and other F&I protection-type products.

On top of the Larry H. Miller Dealerships acquisition, which Asbury expects to close in the fourth quarter, Asbury purchased most of Dallas-based Park Place Dealerships for $735 million last year. That represents 12 new-vehicle franchises and about $1.7 billion in annualized revenue.

Asbury, based in Duluth, GA, says in a conference call that with the addition of the Larry H. Miller Dealerships and other contracted acquisitions representing $900 million in revenue, Asbury’s annualized revenue would be boosted nearly double what it was following the Park Place Acquisition, to $15.5 billion.

The Larry H. Miller acquisition also adds six western states – Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Idaho, California and Washington – and a larger share of domestic brands to Asbury’s portfolio.

Based in Sandy, UT, the Larry H. Miller Dealerships group is No.8 in the 2021 WardsAuto 2021 MegaDealer 100, based on total revenues of $5.3 billion in 2020.