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Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. agreed to buy Van Tuyl Group, the largest privately owned US auto dealership group.
The business, with more than 100 franchises, will be renamed Berkshire Hathaway Automotive and continue to be run by Larry Van Tuyl, Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire said on Thursday in a statement that didn't disclose terms. The target company has more than $8 billion of revenue.
"I fully expect we'll buy a lot more dealerships," Buffett told CNBC in an interview on Thursday. "We've gone a long time without getting into automobiles, but Larry's got an operation that we think could be scaled up a lot from where it is." Buffett, 84, has been drawn to businesses that have opportunities to expand through acquisitions. Such bolt-on purchases allow his deputies to deploy part of Berkshire's cash pile, which was more than $55 billion as of June 30, and free his time for larger deals.
Over the last two decades, the car dealership industry has consolidated as companies like AutoNation Inc. and Penske Automotive Group Inc. built their networks. That trend is poised to continue, said Tim Lamb, president of Tim Lamb Group LLC, a dealership brokerage company in Granville, Ohio.
"Fewer guys are going to have more rooftops," he said. "It's a very small portion of the dealer body that's owned by these large groups. There's still a whole bunch of opportunity to accumulate." Van Tuyl operates in states including Texas, Arizona, Florida and California. The operation sells vehicles from automakers including Toyota Motor Corp, Ford Motor Co and General Motors Co.
'Very lucrative'
"The Van Tuyl business model is to run large, high-volume stores in Sun Belt markets," Alan Haig, president of Haig Partners LLC, a dealership brokerage company, said in a phone interview. "That is a very lucrative business model because the return on sales increases with higher volume." Haig estimates that Van Tuyl is valued at more than Group 1 Automotive Inc., which has a market capitalization of $1.8 billion, and less than Penske, which has a value of $3.7 billion.
AutoNation, the largest new vehicle retailer in the US, had about double the annual revenue of Van Tuyl last year and is valued at more than $6 billion after climbing 6 percent in New York trading as of 11:11 am.
Rising sales
The auto industry showed its health in September results, as the annualised US sales rate, adjusted for seasonal trends, exceeded 16 million for the seventh straight month. SUV and crossover utility vehicle sales rose 17 per cent in September, outpacing the industry's 9.4 per cent gain, according to researcher Autodata Corp.
While Berkshire is new to the dealership business, the company disclosed an equity stake in Detroit-based GM in 2012. The holding is valued at more than $1 billion.
While most Berkshire units retained their names after being acquired, some have taken on the parent company's brand. The utility business changed to Berkshire Hathaway Energy this year, and Buffett's company recently introduced the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices name for its residential real estate franchise network.
Extending the use of the Berkshire name will attract customers who view the company positively, Keefe Bruyette & Woods analysts led by Meyer Shields wrote in a note to clients today. The move "also complicates expectations, which we don't share, of a post-Buffett Berkshire Hathaway breakup." The deal is expected to be completed in the first quarter of next year, according to the statement. Stephens Inc was Van Tuyl's banker and DLA Piper is providing legal advice to the dealership group. Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP is Berkshire's law firm on the deal.
