McGovern Automotive continues to grow
McGovern Automotive Group, which was an active dealer buyer in 2022, continued its acquisition drive with the purchase of three stores in two transactions.
McGovern Automotive of Newton, Massachusetts on October 20 bought Capital Volvo Cars of Albany in Colonie, NY and Jaguar-Land Rover Albany from Eric Kahn.
The stores are McGovern’s first JLR and Volvo dealerships, confirmed CEO Matt McGovern. The Volvo dealership was renamed McGovern Volvo Cars Albany, while the JLR dealership’s name remains.
McGovern’s portfolio of brands ranges from mass-market to Ferrari, but he said Land Rover and Volvo are big holes in the lineup.
“We were very intrigued by these brands and wanted to acquire them as soon as possible,” McGovern, an auto retail veteran who co-founded Prime Motor Group in New England, told Automotive News.
Albany, the capital of New York, is a new market for McGovern Automotive, which has dealerships on Long Island in addition to stores in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
“It’s definitely further from our core group of businesses,” McGovern said. “But it’s worth the trip to get acquainted with these two brands. It really is [has] My best source of acquisitions is the brands themselves. So get in, do well for the brand, solve problems for the brand, and you can often get other business from them.
Nate Klebacha, a partner at Haig Partners, a Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based buy and sell firm, represented Kahn in the transaction. Kahn still owns four dealerships in New York, Haig Partners noted.
“The sale of the stores is bittersweet,” Kahn said in a statement. “Capital Volvo was my first business; I was proud of the team we’ve built and the success we’ve had both there and at Jaguar-Land Rover Albany. However, I decided it was the right time to focus my energies and resources on… businesses that I own in the Mid-Hudson Valley and Syracuse.”
The acquisition of Albany was McGovern Automotive’s first since it bought a Stellantis dealership in Massachusetts in June, McGovern confirmed.
McGovern Automotive also bought a Kia dealership near Boston this month.
McGovern bought Dan O’Brien Kia Norwood from Dan O’Brien from Dan O’Brien Auto Group on 7 November. The store was renamed the McGovern Kia of Norwood.
O’Brien sold a Subaru store in New Hampshire in September and a Nissan dealership in Massachusetts in May. O’Brien was named to Automotive News’ 40-under-40 class in 2018.
As with the Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo deal, Kia is a new brand for McGovern Automotive.
“It’s obviously a very hot brand these days [and has] come a long way in the last two, three years,” McGovern said. “That was another hole in our portfolio. Luckily it was very close to home.”
After the acquisitions, McGovern has a total of 23 new and used car dealerships.
Nancy Phillips Associates, an Exeter, NH buying and selling firm, represented O’Brien in the Kia transaction.