Medford, Ore.-based Lithia Motors (LAD 2.27%) may only be the ninth-biggest auto retailer in the U.S., but it's got high hopes.
On Monday after close of trading on the NYSE, Lithia announced that it has acquired the O'Brien Auto Group in Salem, Ore. O'Brien's stores, named BMW of Salem, Honda of Salem, and Volkswagen of Salem, do a combined $110 million in annual revenue. Lithia did not disclose how much it paid for the businesses.
CEO Bryan DeBoer did say, however, that he was "pleased to expand our presence in Lithia's home state of Oregon. These stores fit our strategy of seeking exclusive franchises in the markets we serve. The opportunity to deepen our relationship with manufacturer partners like BMW, Honda and Volkswagen is a key to achieving our acquisition growth objectives."
Analysts believe Lithia will grow its earnings by 25% per year over the next five years. Today's purchases bring it 3.2 percentage points closer to that goal (relative to the size of Lithia's total revenues before the purchases).
