£53m
Retail chain Lookers
has today announced that it has completed the acquisition of
Dutton
Forshaw for £53m – £7m less than the £60m price tag which was
attached to Dutton Forshaw when news of its sale was disclosed in
September.
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Motor dealer chain Dutton Forshaw, which had 31 outlets under
the Dovercourt and Dutton Forshaw brands, was sold by Lloyds
TSB’s Asset Finance division, which counts among its
business units the fleet management and leasing company
Lloyds
TSB autolease and the consumer motor finance
arm Black
Horse Motor Finance.
Lookers said: “Dutton Forshaw will increase the Group’s total
number of Ford outlets from one to eight, Mercedes-Benz outlets
from four to eight and VW outlets from five to nine. Other outlets
acquired include Chevrolet, Chrysler Jeep and Dodge, Citroën,
Honda, Hyundai, Land Rover, Peugeot and Skoda.”
Lookers chief executive Ken Surgenor commented: “We are
delighted to welcome our new colleagues into the group and look
forward to developing the operations as part of the enlarged
Lookers business.”
Analysts at brokers Numis said: “Due to the timing of the
acquisition, this deal is earnings dilutive in 2007, as Lookers has
not been able to trade it through during the month of September
which is the second most important month in the year in terms of
new car sales.
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By GlobalData“In 2008, we are expecting sales at Dutton Forshaw dealerships
to reach £475m-£500m and to contribute around £6m of operating
profit, but the interest charge will rise by an additional c£4m,
therefore the net uplift to 2008 [profit before tax] is
an additional £2m.”
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