Group 1 Unloads Four U.S. Dealerships
Group 1 Automotive, the fourth-largest dealer group in the U.S., has unloaded four dealerships, the company announced Friday.
In recent weeks, the Houston-based company disposed of Miller Honda and Miller Toyota in Culver City, Calif., World Ford in Stone Mountain, Ga., and Messer Mazda in Amarillo, Texas, in three separate transactions. Additionally, Group 1 also unloaded real estate associated with the Stone Mountain store.
The four dealerships, the company said on its website, produced $176.7 million in trailing-12-month revenues, and “the disposals are consistent with Group 1’s strategy of portfolio management and disciplined capital expenditure management.” 
“Based on that type of analysis, we have decided to dispose of several dealerships and redeploy the capital to operations offering a higher future rate of return for our shareholders,” President and Chief Executive Earl Hesterberg said in the statement. “We remain positive overall on the U.S. dealership environment and plan to pursue further expansion of our U.S. business in the near future.”
Officials said Group 1 anticipates it will report a one-time net pre-tax increase of roughly $8.3 million on these disposals when it announces its second-quarter earnings next month. Group 1 will exclude these gains from adjusted operating earnings.
Group 1 owns and operates 139 automotive dealerships, 178 franchises, and 35 collision centers in the U.S., U.K., and Brazil that offer 35 different brands of cars. It sells new and used cars and light trucks, coordinates related financing, service, and insurance contracts, offers maintenance and repair services, and sells parts
