Huge change to major car dealership selling Fords, Hyundais and Kias as it’s sold to new owners

A HUGE change is coming to a major car dealership firm which sells Fords, Hyundais and Kias as it will sell its motor business to a US company.

Pendragon has agreed to sell its brands which include Evans Halshaw, Stratstone and CarStore, for £250million to the US giant Lithia.

Pendragon is one of the largest motor retailers in the UK.

Evans Halshaw holds dealerships for 10 brands, including Citroen, Dacia, DS, Ford, Hyundai, Kia, Nissan, Peugeot, Renault and Vauxhall.

Stratstone handle Aston Martin, BMW, BYD, Ferrari, Genesis, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Mini, Porsche and Smart.

Pendragon also revealed that it has agreed to a partnership to roll out its dealer management software arm, called Pinewood, to Lithia’s 50 UK sites and to enter the North American market.

The deal with Lithia, which has around 340 dealerships across North America, will help Pinewood’s software unlock the North American market and aim for global expansion, it said.

Pendragon boss Bill Berman said: “Pendragon has built one of the UK’s leading automotive retailing businesses, underpinned by a market leading dealer management system, the quality of our people, long-standing relationships with OEMs and excellent execution for customers.

“The Pendragon Board considers Lithia to be perfectly placed to build on this progress.

“The launch of Pinewood as a standalone company is a unique and exciting opportunity to create a best-in-class product for customers, which we can market globally and drive substantial value for our shareholders and in Lithia we have the perfect partner to help accelerate Pinewood’s push into the hugely attractive North American DMS market.”

Shares in Pendragon surged by 25 per cent on the back of the deal, to 23.1p, valuing the entire business at £322m.

Pendragon had been approached by Swedish motor company Hedin Group in September last year with a possible takeover offer worth £400m, or 29p per share, but it did not result in a sale.

Andres Hedin, who owns the Hedin Group, still owns more than a quarter of Pendragon shares.