I’m in Zhuhai in southern China as I write this. I’m here to moderate a panel on dealership mergers and acquisitions at the China Automobile Dealers Association annual convention and meeting. My panelists here are Linda Barnette, a principal at MD Johnson, Inc., and Miguel Yelos San Martin, founder and president of YSM Design, a dealership design firm based in Atlanta.
There are striking similarities in the U.S. and China dealership buy sell market, I surmised after meeting in Shanghai a few days ago with Xie Chun, the founder of Renhedao, a social media and “wisdom sharing” platform for China’s dealership management.
China’s dealership world is also undergoing consolidation and Xie says the smaller groups and single-point dealers are having a hard time finding the financing to expand. Sound familiar? I look forward to finding out more as I chat with dealership investors at the CADA meeting.
This week’s Automotive Buy Sell Report has a bit of a theme – the impact of the new breed of investors in the buy sell world. Stephen Dietrich of Greenberg Traurig looks at how an area that previously caused little drama, representations and warranties, has become a possible stress point in negotiations.
Also, Champ Rawls of The Rawls Group discussed the pros and cons of private equity as an exit strategy when a family-owned group has no successor, or as an expansion strategy.
And as always we have Transaction News.
Enjoy!
