Group 1 Automotive’s agreement to acquire Hennessy Automobile Companies marks the largest 10-store deal by dollar value in automotive retail history. The $1.3 billion transaction adds 10 luxury and import dealerships in metro Atlanta to Group 1’s portfolio and marks the city as the company’s second-largest market by revenue. Kerrigan Advisors brokered the deal on behalf of the Hennessy family, whose 60-year-old dealership group built its business on premium luxury brands in the Southeast.
On the latest Inside Automotive episode, we sat down with Ryan Kerrigan, Managing Director at Kerrigan Advisors, following the announcement of the record-setting deal. Kerrigan broke down what the transaction says about the state of the buy-sell market and why luxury dealerships are commanding record valuations.
According to Kerrigan, Hennessy’s portfolio helps explain why the deal reached the price it did. About 75% of the group’s volume comes from premium luxury brands, and each of its 10 rooftops averaged $170 million in annual revenue. Kerrigan said luxury franchises are becoming harder to acquire as fewer networks come up for sale.
"The luxury space is consolidating even faster than the rest of the industry."
Brands like Jaguar Land Rover, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz and Lexus operate through smaller dealer networks than mass-market franchises. As those networks shrink through consolidation, the handful of remaining opportunities draw serious interest from both public dealer groups and large private consolidators.
Record-setting buy-sell market
The Hennessy deal reflects a buy-sell market that continues to break its own records. Kerrigan said 2025 was already a record year for dealership transactions, adding that 2026 is tracking ahead of that pace.
Kerrigan believes public dealer groups are backing up that trend with strong results of their own. For instance, Lithia Motors posted a second-quarter earnings beat that sent its stock up 19% in a single day. The Kerrigan Index, which tracks all publicly traded auto retailers, hit a record high that same day. “There’s just incredible strength, notwithstanding some of the macroeconomic issues that you might think hold back the industry,” Kerrigan said.
Rising interest rates, affordability pressure and broader economic uncertainty have historically slowed the automotive market. Kerrigan said none of that has shown up in current deal activity, instead, most of the buy-sell volume Kerrigan Advisors tracks happens outside the public markets, between large private consolidators buying smaller private groups. Kerrigan said many of those private companies are also hitting record levels of profitability, even as some individual franchises and OEMs struggle.
Blue Sky values
For family-owned dealership groups, the math behind selling has changed dramatically. Kerrigan pointed to Blue Sky, the value of a dealership above its hard assets, as a percentage of revenue. That figure is now at all-time highs across the industry, with some deals reaching 30% to 50% Blue Sky to revenue, a level that barely existed in the industry a decade ago.
Notably, the Hennessy family had operated in Atlanta for more than 60 years, with leadership recently transitioning from the second generation to a large third generation. Kerrigan said that kind of generational shift, combined with a strong offer, often pushes longtime family owners toward a sale.
The timeline for this deal was rapid compared to industry standards, as Kerrigan Advisors began talking with a select group of qualified buyers in May. The deal was then signed in roughly 60 days. Kerrigan noted that this quick pace indicates how competitive the market has become for well-managed, luxury-focused dealership groups.
Some public groups consider going private
Additionally, Kerrigan weighed in on a separate trend reshaping the industry. Public dealer groups are reconsidering the value of staying public. He said that Penske and Mitsui announced a $3.8 billion proposal in July to take Penske Automotive Group private, buying out the roughly 28% of shares they don’t already own.
Kerrigan explains that the move aligns with how the companies have long operated, as Penske and Mitsui have managed Penske Automotive for many years. Going public primarily aims to open up access to capital markets. He also highlighted that the landscape for raising capital has shifted dramatically lately, citing technology firms that attract billions without listing on public exchanges.
That kind of activity is consistent with what Kerrigan Advisors is seeing across its own pipeline. Currently, the firm has more dealership rooftops under engagement than at any point in its history, spanning everything from early conversations to deals nearing announcement.
