FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Feb. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AutoNation, Inc. , America's largest automotive retailer, today announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire the Autohaus Mercedes-Benz dealership in Pompano Beach, Florida. AutoNation also announced that it has signed a separate agreement to acquire certain rights to establish a new Mercedes-Benz dealership in Palm Beach County, Florida.
The acquisition of Autohaus Mercedes-Benz, which is located in Broward County, is expected to close in the first quarter of 2006. The acquisition of the rights to establish a new Mercedes-Benz dealership in Palm Beach County, Florida is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2006 and it is expected that the dealership will commence operations in 2008. Upon completion of the acquisition of Autohaus and the establishment of the new Mercedes-Benz dealership, AutoNation would own seven Mercedes-Benz dealerships in Florida and 34 total dealerships in South Florida.
"This acquisition reiterates AutoNation's commitment to providing our customers the widest and most appealing selection in the industry," said Mike Maroone, AutoNation president and chief operating officer. "Mercedes-Benz represents the pinnacle of automotive design and engineering, and AutoNation is the country's premier automotive retailer, so this is a fitting continuation of our relationship. We currently operate more Mercedes-Benz dealerships than any other retailer in the United States, and AutoNation is proud to match the brand's innovative, exceptional styling with a retail environment that is built around customer satisfaction."
Terms of the all-cash transactions, which are subject to certain conditions and approvals, were not disclosed. AutoNation estimates that the annual revenue from the Autohaus dealership will be approximately $230 million.
The dealership occupies approximately 17 acres in a prime retail location in Broward County, including a state-of-the-art service facility and body shop.
Currently, AutoNation offers 17 brands of vehicle at locations from Kendall to North Palm Beach, including Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler/Jeep, Dodge, Ford, Honda, Isuzu, Kia, Lexus, Lincoln-Mercury, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo. AutoNation's dealerships also offer used vehicles, parts and service, and finance and insurance products.
About AutoNation, Inc.
AutoNation, Inc., headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is America's largest automotive retailer and a component of the Standard and Poor's 500 Index. In 2004 AutoNation was named America's Most Admired Automotive Retailer for the 4th year in a row. AutoNation has approximately 27,000 full- time employees and owns and operates 345 new vehicle franchises in 17 states. For additional information, please visit http://corp.autonation.com/ or http://www.autonation.com/ , where more than 100,000 vehicles are available for sale.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain statements and information included in this release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Federal Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. Additional discussion of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from management's projections, estimates and expectations is contained in the Company's SEC filings. The Company undertakes no duty to update its forward- looking statements.
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