Automotive News Canada - December 2021 - 8

8
* DECEMBER 2021
AutoCanada
buys 11 more
dealerships
'Ultimately, we are
looking for our
retail portfolio to
proportionately
represent
the Canadian
automotive market'
By STEVE MERTL
VANCOUVER CORRESPONDENT
AUTOCANADA INC.
continued its buying spree in
November, acquiring
all of Autopoint
Group's 11 Ontario
dealerships to
expand its presence
in the province
to 18 stores.
And the Edmontonbased
retailer is not
through shopping.
" The acquisition
of Autopoint
is just the beginning, "
AutoCanada
President Michael
Rawluk wrote in an
email to Automotive
News Canada. " We
are going to grow
our national footAutoCanada's
fourth-quarter
report, follows a spate of acquisitions
in Canada and Illinois,
where it owns 18 dealerships,
in the second half of 2021. The
transaction is being funded
via AutoCanada's $225-million
revolving credit facility, the
company said.
DEALING FOR NO. 1
AutoCanada's portfolio now
boasts 78 franchised dealerships
encompassing 28 brands
across eight provinces and
Illinois. If its 18 U.S. stores are
included, AutoCanada moves
ahead of the privately
held Dilawri
Group of Toronto,
with 76 outlets, to
become the largest
Canadian dealership
group.
The 11-store
Rawluk: The
acquisition of 11
dealerships from
Autopoint is " just
the beginning. "
FILE PHOTO
print with a focus on geographic
diversification.
" Ultimately, we are looking
for our retail portfolio to
proportionately represent the
Canadian automotive market. "
The deal, whose value will
be disclosed in publicly traded
Autopoint deal adds
six brands in southern
Ontario: Nissan,
Infiniti, Subaru,
Kia, Honda and
Acura. Kia, Honda
and Acura represent
brand expansion for
AutoCanada.
The company
is also acquiring
North London
Toyota from Autopoint, subject
to conditions including approval
from the automaker.
Earlier in November,
AutoCanada bought most of the
assets of Crystal Lake ChryslerSEE
AUTOPOINT PAGE 29
Zanchin: The
joint venture
with AWIN
" just fit. "
PHOTO: ZANCHIN
AUTOMOTIVE
GROUP
FINANCE
PROMOTION
Gino Caputo
Senior Vice President
and Head, TD Auto Finance
TD Auto Finance
Toronto, Ontario
Effective Dec. 7, Michael McGhee, currently
Senior Vice President & Head, TD Auto
Finance, will move to a new role as Senior
Vice President, Divisional Office, and Transformation, in TD's Business
Bank. With this change, we are pleased to share that Gino Caputo,
currently District Senior Vice President, GTA, Canadian Business
Banking, will become Senior Vice President and Head, TD Auto Finance.
Gino has held several senior leadership roles within TD, across Business
and Retail Banking, Finance, Product, Program Management and Credit
Risk. His deep subject matter expertise in Commercial Lending and his
unwavering focus on meaningful client experiences are highly valued
and set him up well to lead this exciting and rapidly growing business.
See listings and post your own: canada.autonews.com/people
Mercedes-Benz Mississauga is among the corporate stores that will be held by a new
ownership group. PHOTO: MERCEDES-BENZ CANADA
AWIN-Zanchin partnership
scores the final seven
Mercedes-Benz stores
'Financial strength' backs
the bid and could serve as a
lesson regarding the state of
retail consolidation in Canada
By GREG LAYSON
DIGITAL AND MOBILE EDITOR
IT TOOK THE RESOURCES OF A PAIR OF
large dealership groups to buy Mercedes-Benz
Canada's remaining company-owned stores for
an undisclosed price.
And the owners of the two groups say conglomerates
might be the wave of the future
when it comes to buying a large number of dealerships
at once.
AWIN Group of Dealerships and Zanchin
Automotive Group have joined forces to buy
Mercedes-Benz's Toronto Retail Group. The
transaction was announced Dec. 7, but terms
were not disclosed. The deal is to be finalized by
the end of the first quarter
of 2022.
AWIN and Zanchin will
form a yet-to-be-named
company to run the seven
stores.
Zanchin CEO Joe
Zanchin said the dealer
groups offered " a lot of
financial strength. "
That's something
AWIN's Sylvester Chuang
said is going to be needed
more and more in the
future.
" The investment these
days is tremendous. In
order to be able to do it, you probably need conglomerates
to do it, not individual dealers, " he
said. " There's going to be bigger conglomerates
coming together.
" But it's going to be up to the [automakers] to
choose the conglomerates they can work with. "
CHOSEN FOR THEIR TRACK RECORD
Mercedes-Benz Canada said the two groups
were selected after a competitive bidding process
and were chosen " based on their collective
track record of business success, well-established
histories of creating exceptional customer
experiences and shared commitment to ongoing
investments. "
The sale means that all 59 Mercedes stores in
Canada are now privately owned.
While Mercedes-Benz Canada never owned
all 59 stores in Canada at one time, it maintained
a mix of corporate-owned retail and privately
held dealerships. The company didn't
break out the mix by percentage.
" It was beneficial for the organization to
directly own a certain number of dealerships
as a direct connection to the retail environment
and to allow for flexibility in piloting new retail
initiatives, " the company said.
" Mercedes-Benz Canada is divesting the
dealerships, known collectively as the Toronto
Retail Group,
in order to best
position itself
for long-term
growth. "
Eva Wiese,
CEO of
Mercedes-Benz
Canada, said in
a statement the
sale will create a
network of dealerships
" that can
act with even
more speed and
agility to deliver
the highest level
of customer
experience. "
Wiese: The sale allows
Mercedes-Benz to focus
its efforts on marketing
and supporting its dealer
network. FILE PHOTO
" This move will allow Mercedes-Benz
Canada to focus its efforts and resources on supporting
a strong, independent national dealer
network, " Wiese said.
Wiese said the company will now focus on
" steering " the brand in Canada by paying more
attention to areas such as marketing.
The Toronto Retail Group is comprised of:
* Mercedes-Benz Downtown
* Mercedes-Benz Markham
* Mercedes-Benz Thornhill
* Mercedes-Benz Maple/Mercedes-Benz Maple
Van Centre
* Mercedes-Benz Midtown
* Mercedes-Benz Mississauga/Mercedes-Benz
Mississauga Van Centre
* Mercedes-Benz Etobicoke
The company would not say whether the deal
included real estate ownership.
The management structure at each dealership
will be determined by the new ownership
group once the transfer is completed, according
to Zanchin and Chuang. Both said all current
staff will be transferred to the new company and
that no one will lose their job.
The groups are no strangers to the luxury
brand. AWIN owns 20 dealerships, including
Mercedes-Benz Oakville, Mercedes-Benz
Victoria and Mercedes-Benz Nanaimo (British
Columbia), while the Zanchin group owns
Mercedes-Benz Newmarket and Mercedes-Benz
Durham.
Chuang said the deal gives his company substantially
more presence in Ontario.
" It's very important for us in that respect. "
Founded in 1973 by Joe Zanchin, the Zanchin
Automotive Group currently operates 34 dealerships
across Ontario.
" We saw the possibilities, " Zanchin said. " It
was the right thing to do among the two of us. It
just fit. " - ANC
http://canada.autonews.com/people
Automotive News Canada - December 2021

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