Jonathan Sobel-led Georgica Auto Holdings, which received a $70 million investment from Franchise Equity Partners in October, entered a new state on Wednesday in a three-store acquisition.
Georgica Auto bought Danbury Volkswagen, Audi Danbury and Porsche Danbury, all in Connecticut, from Josh Weeks of Weeks Automotive Group, Sobel, Georgica Auto’s CEO and a former Goldman Sachs partner, confirmed to Automotive News in an email. The dealerships’ names remain. Danbury is in western Connecticut, near the New York border, and northeast of New York City.
The transaction also included a used-vehicle store, also in Danbury.
Weeks founded his namesake group in 1989. Sobel said the dealerships were run well.
“Western Connecticut is one of the preeminent areas for premium brands such as Porsche and Audi,” Sobel said in a statement. “The addition of these new automotive destinations furthers our relationship with the Volkswagen brand in the Northeast, where we will now own and operate five Audi, three Porsche and two Volkswagen dealerships.”
Sobel said the Danbury acquisition was his group’s first following the minority-stake investment from private investment firm Franchise Equity Partners.
In October, Sobel said that a majority of the infusion would spur acquisition growth, but added that some funds would be used to improve dealership facilities and the customer experience at existing stores.
Franchise Equity Partners said in November 2021 that it aimed to spend around $400 million on minority stakes in auto dealerships during a three-year period.
The Danbury acquisition also was Sobel’s first of 2022 and the first since he bought a Chevrolet-Buick-GMC dealership in Auburn, N.Y., in July 2021, he told Automotive News.
In addition to Connecticut, Georgica Auto has dealerships across New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Sobel’s dealership portfolio represents domestic, import and luxury brands.
