Yeomans Group has completed the acquisition of 11 Audi, Volkswagen, VW Commercial Vehicles and Skoda franchised car dealerships from Helston Garages for an undisclosed sum.
The transaction, confirmed in a statement issued this morning (November 30), follows the news that Vertu Motors were in advanced talks to acquire car retail businesses from the £627 million, 40-site AM100 operation.
It sees Worthing-based Yeomans join represent Volkswagen Group brands for the first time.
In all, the transaction includes one Audi (Truro), two Volkswagen cars (Helston and Indian Queens), two Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles (Exeter and Indian Queens), four Skoda (Bridgwater, Exeter, Helston and Indian Queens), two TPS Parts (Indian Queens and Helston) and a Peugeot approved repair site in Helston.
The deal will grow Yeomans’ scale to 35 sites with an expected annual turnover of around £450m next year from around £320m in 2022.
All staff at the dealerships will transfer to Yeomans.
James Smith, chairman and managing director of Yeomans, said: “I am thrilled these amazing businesses will be joining our family-run firm.
“The Helston Garages sites are fantastically run and in great locations and I’m very excited to be welcoming the teams into our family.
“We have wanted to work with the VW Group for a long time and this was a unique opportunity to join their network in one go. It was an opportunity that was simply too good to miss.”
David Kendrick, partner at UHY Hacker Young, the firm that advised on the deal.
Kendrick, who was interviewed about the UK car retail sector’s M&A outlook for a feature in the November edition of AM Magazine, said: “The acquisition of the Volkswagen Group businesses for Yeomans is a huge move for them as a business.
“With James as a young CEO, it’s clearly an exciting and expanding business. This is a big opportunity for Yeomans to enter the VW Group network.”
Yeomans also represents Citroen, DS, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Peugeot, Toyota and Vauxhall.
AM understands that Vertu may still be in-line to make acquisitions from Helston Garages, with Rybrook also making additions from the operation, which counts Ferrari, BMW/Mini, Peugeot, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and Volvo among its franchised partners.
Smith added: “There are lots of similarities about Helston Garages and Yeomans such as the fact we’re both family-run businesses and have great staff retention.
“Yeomans started in the West Country in 1985 – and in fact two of our first staff members there are still with the business nearly 40 years later. We can’t wait to get involved and help these teams continue the great work they’ve been doing with Helston under the Yeomans banner.”