Lithia Motors Inc., which has outsized acquisition ambitions, acknowledged its 2022 pace of buying dealerships is quicker than expected.
The company, which bought six dealerships in two first-quarter acquisitions, has additional deals under contract worth $1.9 billion in annual revenue.
“We now have either closed, or have under contract, $3 billion [of annualized revenue] so far year to date,” he said during the company’s first- quarter earnings call last week. “That’s a big number. It’s a little higher than what we expected. Most importantly, we do not adjust our disciplines. We’re finding partners that are excited about joining us at multiples that we look at on a normalized basis to be able to do that.”
Lithia’s completed first-quarter acquisitions in Northern California and Las Vegas are expected to generate annual revenue of $1.1 billion, meaning the Medford, Ore., retailer has deals expected to generate annual revenue of almost $2 billion under contract, Tom Dobry, Lithia’s vice president of marketing, confirmed.
