Jim Koons Automotive Companies, the D.C. region’s largest auto dealership chain and one of the largest privately owned dealership groups in the U.S., is being acquired by Asbury Automotive Group Inc. in Duluth, Georgia, for roughly $1.2 billion in what the buyer is billing as of one the largest retail automotive acquisitions in U.S. history.
Koons operates 20 dealerships in the Washington-Baltimore region, 29 franchises and six collision centers and posted revenue last year of around $3.2 billion. It was one of just 13 privately owned dealer groups in the country last year to top $3 billion in revenue and it is among the nation’s top sellers of Toyota, Stellantis, Ford, Kia, Hyundai, Volvo, Mercedes-Benz and General Motors vehicles, ranking among the top 10 in revenue per dealership.
Kerrigan Advisors represented Koons in the transaction. Stephen Dietrich and Brooke Sizer of Holland & Knight served as Koons’ legal counsel and Baker Tilly provided accounting services. Jones Day and Hill Ward Henderson served as legal counsel to Asbury and FORVIS served as Asbury’s advisory firm.
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Kerrigan Advisors is the leading sell-side advisor and thought partner to auto dealers nationwide. Since its founding in 2014, the firm has led the industry with the sale of over 280 dealerships representing $9 billion in client proceeds, including the third largest transaction in auto retail history – the sale of Jim Koons Automotive Companies to Asbury Automotive Group. 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. Led by a team of veteran industry experts with backgrounds in investment banking, private equity, accounting, finance and real estate, Kerrigan Advisors does not take listings, rather they develop a customized sales approach for each client to achieve their personal and financial goals. In addition to the firm’s sell-side advisory services, Kerrigan Advisors also provides a suite of consulting and investor 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 Dealer Survey, click here. To read the 2024 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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