Rising Morgan Automotive Group of Tampa, Fla., purchased two Florida Kia dealerships from LMP Automotive Holdings Inc. final week and acquired a Florida Stellantis retailer in a separate, unrelated November transaction.
It marks the third dealership sale introduced by small auto retailer LMP in three months. The Fort Lauderdale, Fla., firm mentioned in a Monday information launch that it’s below contract to promote two extra dealerships and is advertising its two remaining franchised shops.
The deal for Kia of Cape Coral and Kia of Port Charlotte closed on Dec. 15, in line with Morgan Automotive CEO Brett Morgan. The dealerships’ names stay, he mentioned.
“That was type of third time’s the attraction attempting to amass these shops as a result of we bid on them when Fuccillo [Automotive Group] was promoting,” Brett Morgan instructed Automotive Information, referring to when LMP purchased the dealerships in March 2021. And he mentioned his group was when LMP introduced the Kia shops to market this 12 months.
LMP was set to promote the 2 Kia Florida dealerships and 4 different West Virginia shops to Atlantic Coast Automotive Group. Nonetheless, in October, LMP mentioned that deal had been terminated by the client.
“We have been blissful to have the ability to have one other alternative to amass these two dealerships,” Morgan mentioned of the Kia shops. “We love Kia and love these two markets.”
The acquisition provides to Morgan Automotive’s footprint in Southwest Florida. “It is a rising market in Florida,” Brett Morgan mentioned.
The Kia dealership acquisitions are the newest buy by Morgan Automotive in a busy 12 months.
Final month, the group purchased Tallahassee Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep-Ram, which additionally offered Fiat autos. Brett Morgan mentioned it marks his group’s first retailer in Tallahassee, Florida’s capital.
Morgan Automotive purchased the shop on Nov. 11 from seller Ken Marks, Brett Morgan mentioned. The dealership was renamed Tallahassee Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram-Fiat.
The Tallahassee acquisition was the primary since August when Morgan Automotive purchased three dealerships in Sarasota, Fla. In June, Morgan Automotive purchased Ford of Clermont and offered its Genesis of Fort Myers dealership, each in Florida. In Could, Morgan Automotive purchased Fuccillo Kia of Clermont, plus two domestic-branded dealerships in Tampa.
Morgan Automotive doesn’t have some other acquisitions below contract, although Brett Morgan indicated he expects his group will likely be within the hunt for extra in 2023.
“We’re nonetheless a really acquisitive firm,” he mentioned. “The truth is it’s going to in all probability look rather a lot like this 12 months and the 12 months prior. However robust to play crystal ball. If the proper alternatives are on the market, we’ll do as a lot as we have now the capability to amass.”
Brett Morgan mentioned the group stays bullish on Florida, the one state it has dealerships in.
“We’re not trying anyplace else,” Brett Morgan mentioned of different states. “However we’re open-minded of us.”
Morgan Automotive now has 61 franchised dealerships. The group wound down operations of a used-vehicle retailer in Lake Metropolis, Fla., this month, Brett Morgan added.
Morgan Automotive ranks No. 8 on Automotive Information‘ checklist of the highest 150 dealership teams primarily based within the U.S., retailing 60,951 new autos in 2021.