Stafford’s Largest 16-Car Dealership Acquisition of 2022

Other big deals this year include Wally Darwish’s April. Purchase of 10 franchised dealers Fucciro Automotive Group and Jeff Wyler Automotive Family Purchased 7 new car dealerships from Superior Automotive Group in February.

James Mitchell and Erin Rice of Dealership Capital Services, part of commercial real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield, represented Brown Automotive in the transaction, calling it one of the largest dealership acquisitions in the Washington, DC area.

They said the complex structure of the transaction in terms of real estate and dealer image and renovation projects made the process lengthy, but in the end it worked out because the two companies were a good fit. Because they bought the whole thing and agreed to keep the employees, they said.

“He was already in a relationship with a lot of people because they all grew up together in the car business locally here in DC,” Mitchell said.

Graham said he plans to continue his practice of helping managers become store owners.

“We are fully empowering our employees,” Graham said. “And my job is to make them successful.”

Before the Braun deal went through, Safford had 10 new car dealerships and four crash repair shops, except for a BMW store and one crash site, both in Owings Mills, Maryland. , all in Virginia.

With the acquisition of Braun Automotive, Safford now owns three Mazda dealerships, two Honda dealerships, two Nissan dealerships and two Hyundai dealerships, plus Toyota, Kia, Subaru, Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge Ram and Volkswagen branded dealers. Got.

Most of the stores operated in the market under the Brown’s Car Stores brand are located in Virginia. His one of the Honda stores, the Toyota store, and Muscle, his car and classic car store, are located in Glenn, Maryland, in his Burnie. Other stores in Northern Virginia include Amherst, Arlington, Alexandria, Chantilly, Fairfax, Leesburg, Manassas, Richmond and Sterling.

Safford Automotive in August Sold 3 stores in Maryland To Pohanka Automotive Group. When Mr. Pohanka contacted Mr. Graham, he initially said he didn’t want to sell it, but after the 2.5-hour drive to the dealership, he eventually changed his mind.

“It was difficult for me to go to those stores, and I was a little isolated,” Graham said. rice field.”

Brown Automotive sold 11,770 new vehicles and 8,683 used vehicles in 2021, according to Cushman & Wakefield. Safford Automotive ranked 104th car news‘ Updated list of the top 150 US-based dealer groups, retailed 9,847 new vehicles in 2021. Safford also retailed 6,372 used cars last year. Combined new car sales for Braun and Safford would have placed the combined company in the top 50 on the list.

Graham said he aims to keep the company growing.

He plans to complete another acquisition by the end of the year. He said he can’t share more just yet.

“That store was where it all started,” Graham said. “He’s still one of the most successful stores.”