Dream Motor Group has expanded into South Florida by acquiring two Mercedes-Benz dealerships in a deal worth roughly $700 million.
Dream Motor Group is owned by University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban and former Mercedes-Benz CEO Steve Cannon and CEO Joe Agresti. Dream Motors entered the Florida market on July 31 by purchasing a collision center, a Mercedes-Benz of Cutler Bay, and a Mercedes-Benz of Coral Gables from Bill Ussery Motors. Agresti remarked, “This is significant. It is rare for Mercedes-Benz to produce this much volume in one fell swoop.”
“Florida has these great franchise laws that allow dealers to generate high profits, and that shows up in high goodwill values,” stated Alan Haig, president of Haig Partners, a buy-sell company based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Moreover, Haig was not involved in the transaction but continues, “I suspect you’ll see more transactions similar to that in the coming year.”
The two acquisitions add to Dream Motor’s stable of dealerships in Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Texas:
- Mercedes-Benz of The Woodlands in Texas
- Mercedes-Benz of Baton Rouge in Louisiana
- Mercedes-Benz of Birmingham in Irondale, Alabama
- Mercedes-Benz of Music City in Nashville, Tennessee
- Ferrari dealership Prancing Horse of Nashville, Tennessee
- Infiniti of Birmingham in Hoover, Alabama
According to Agresti, Dream Motor will sell roughly 22,000 new cars a year with the two new stores in Florida. “Unlike most dealers who spend a lot of time thinking about franchise diversity, we spend a little bit of time doing that,” Agresti stated. “We spend more time trying to be the best we can at running the brands we have, so we consider ourselves a bit of Mercedes-Benz experts.”
