One aspect of my job that I really enjoy is talking to people at small dealership groups about their recent acquisitions. This week I spoke with Chris Duncan at Badger Truck Center about its recent acquisition of a Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram dealership in a tiny town in Wisconsin.
While news of the big dealership groups acquiring other groups or single-point dealerships usually grab the headlines, family-owned dealerships still account for a big chunk of the stores in the U.S. And consolidation is going on among those smaller dealerships, as well. In this case, the owners of the Chrysler store wanted to move on.
Although Badger has slim experience with retail sales, it is very successful in the commercial arena and has successfully entered multiple related businesses. Besides, in these small towns success often depends as much on being part of the town as on past experience with retail sales, as other dealers have told me.
With so many deals taking place these days, I thought we’d re-visit a column from last year written by attorney Len Bellavia on how to keep those closings from taking an eternity. It involves holding your attorney’s nose to the grindstone. Not really, but it does pay for both you the client, and your attorney, to be well-prepared.
Naturally, you also want to check out our Transaction News….
Alysha Webb, Editor and Publisher
