Penske Automotive Group, a Bloomfield Township-based international transportation services company, has announced an agreement today to acquire CarShop, one of the U.K.’s leading retailers of used vehicles, known for their fixed retail prices and transparent customer buying experience.
CarShop has been in operation since 1999 and has five large-scale retail locations in Cardiff, Swindon, Northhampton, Norwich, and Doncaster, plus a 15-acre vehicle preparation center in Leighton Buzzard, which reconditions 45,000 vehicles annually. CarShop’s leadership will stay on as part of the acquisition.
“The acquisition of CarShop furthers our diversification strategy within the transportation services industry, and is complementary to our existing core auto retail business,” says Roger S. Penske, Penske’s group chairman. “Similar to the U.S. market, used vehicle sales in the U.K. are nearly three times the size of new vehicle sales on an annual basis. The CarShop acquisition, combined with the pending acquisition of CarSense in the United States, strengthens our market position in our two largest markets (United States and United Kingdom) while providing scalable future growth opportunities.”
The acquisition is subject to certain conditions and is expected to close by the end of 2017’s first quarter. CarShop is expected to generate an estimated annualized revenue of approximately $340 million, with an expected accretion of $.07 to $.09 per share.
