Member Article

Marshall Motor Holdings acquires family dealership group in £24.4m deal

Automotive retail and leasing group, Marshall Motor Holdings plc has acquired a Kent-based family dealership group for £24.4m.

Based in Beckenham, SG Smith has been family owned and operated since it was founded in the 1930s, is a new and used car dealer group operating from locations across Kent, Surrey and London.

The acquisition agreement provides for a retention of £1.7m, the release of which is subject to certain performance conditions, the completion of certain property developments and finalisation of the completion accounts.

SGS brand partners are Audi in the Wimbledon, Coulsdon, Bexley and Beckenham market areas; Skoda in Croydon; and Mercedes Benz commercial (after sales only) in Croydon.

The acquisition extends Marshal’s footprint into new and attractive geographic territories, being the Kent, Surrey and London markets.

The Group has acquired the entire issued share capital of SGS from Robert Smith, the son of the founder and SGS Managing Director, and certain other family and non-family individual investors. Robert Smith will remain with the group for some months to assist with the integration process.

Daksh Gupta, group chief executive, commented: “We are delighted to have acquired this long established, family run business and I am particularly pleased to welcome our new colleagues to the Group.

“The Acquisition is in line with our stated strategy to grow scale with existing brand partners and expand our geographic footprint.

“The business is a good cultural fit for the Group and we are delighted to be significantly growing our relationship with Audi, strengthening our Skoda representation and extending our partnership with Mercedes Benz in commercial vehicles.”

Robert Smith, SGS Managing Director, commented: “After over 70 years, it was important to our family to find a good home for our business and our people. The Acquisition brings together two long standing organisations with a rich history in automotive retail. I would like to thank the entire SGS team and wish them well with Marshall Motors over the coming years.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .