Victory Automotive adds W.Va., Calif., St. Louis stores
Victory Automotive Group of Canton, Mich., has purchased four dealerships in three states since the end of September, including one Mazda dealership and three Toyota stores.
Toyota dealerships are among the most sought-after acquisitions, said Alan Haig, president of Haig Partners, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., dealership buy-sell advisory firm. Haig Partners advised sellers in transactions that led Victory Automotive to acquiring the Toyota dealerships.
“Many dealers tell us if you can only own a single franchise, Toyota is the one,” Haig Partners said in its third-quarter Haig Report on the dealership buy-sell market released in late November.
Selling points for Toyota stores include: a consistent, lean days’ supply, which supports high transaction prices; a strong captive finance company, Toyota Financial Services; mutually respectful factory-dealer relations; and Toyota’s product lineup, which is heavy on gasoline-electric hybrids and less dependent on battery electric vehicles, Haig said.
Victory Automotive on Nov. 18 bought two Toyota dealerships in West Virginia: Advantage Toyota in Barboursville and Ball Toyota of Charleston. The dealerships are renamed Victory Toyota Barboursville and Victory Toyota Charleston.
Brothers and business partners Shawn Ball and David Ball were the sellers of Advantage Toyota, Haig said. Shawn Ball owned the Charleston store.
Shawn Ball, dealer principal, retains L&S Toyota of Beckley in West Virginia; David Ball is retired, Haig Partners said. Haig Partners represented the sellers in those deals.
Victory Automotive on Sept. 30 also purchased Weiss Toyota of South County in St. Louis. It’s renamed Victory Toyota of St. Louis.
Haig Partners also facilitated that transaction. The sellers were John Weiss, dealer principal, and partner John Capps, and it was their only store, the buy-sell firm said.
The three new Toyota stores make it a total of 14 Toyota dealerships for Victory Automotive, which has stores in 13 states, according to its website.
Victory Automotive on Oct. 21 purchased San Leandro Mazda in California. It was renamed Victory Mazda San Leandro.
The purchase marked Victory Automotive’s first Mazda store, according to Tim Lamb Group, a buy-sell firm in Columbus, Ohio, which brokered the sale. Steve Corle, director of the Plainsregion for the firm, facilitated the deal.
The selling dealer was Ken Harvey of Harvey Auto Group, which retains four Honda stores and two Mazda dealerships.
Victory Automotive, which is led by Jeff Cappo, and his sons, Eric Cappo, CFO, and Mike Cappo, vice president, has been an active dealership buyer this year, also purchasing a Toyota dealership in Ohio, among others this year.