Friendship Family of Dealerships bought three West Virginia dealerships — including two from LMP Automotive Holdings — in two first-quarter transactions.
LMP on March 30 sold Hometown Subaru and Hometown Kia, both in Mt. Hope, W.Va., to the Friendship group of Bristol, Tenn., according to Mitch Walters, the group’s president.
The dealerships, which are next to each other, were renamed Friendship Subaru of Beckley and Friendship Kia of Beckley.
“They’re new brands for us, which is exciting,” Walters told Automotive News.
Mt. Hope, just north of Beckley, is south of the West Virginia capital of Charleston.
LMP had owned 85 percent stakes in the stores for about two years.
LMP initially bought the Kia store, along with a nearby Chevrolet dealership and a Buick-GMC store, in March 2021 from husband and wife Ernie Davis and Lori Davis. LMP bought the Subaru dealership, also from the Davises, in May 2021.
LMP, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., had plans to acquire 80 to 100 dealerships by the end of 2022. But after challenges obtaining financing and closing deals, that ambition collapsed.
In August, LMP’s board of directors unanimously recommended that stockholders approve a proposed plan to liquidate and dissolve the company.
LMP then revealed that it had reached an agreement to sell four West Virginia dealerships, including Hometown Subaru and Hometown Kia, and two Florida Kia dealerships, to Atlantic Coast Automotive Group. However, in October, LMP said that deal had been terminated by the buyer.
LMP, in three transactions, sold dealerships in the fourth quarter:
- In October, LMP sold White Plains Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram in New York to Tasca Automotive Group.
- In November, LMP said in a press release that it had closed on the sale of a General Motors dealership in Greeneville, Tenn., but did not indicate when the transaction closed or who the buyer was.
- In December, LMP sold its two Florida Kia dealerships to Morgan Automotive Group.
Last month, LMP in a news release said it reached agreements to sell the West Virginia Chevrolet and Buick-GMC stores, believed to be its last franchised dealerships, with expected closings in June.
Friendship Family of Dealerships’ acquisition of the Subaru and Kia dealerships followed a February purchase not far away. Walters said the group on Feb. 1 bought Hyundai of Beckley, which it renamed Friendship Hyundai of Beckley, from Ernie Davis and Lori Davis. LMP also was slated to buy that store, but the deal eventually was terminated.
The February purchase marked the first acquisition since the group bought a Hyundai dealership in Princeton, W.Va., Friendship’s first store in the state, in April 2022, Walters said.
Beckley is around 35 miles north of Princeton.
“It made sense for us to do that,” Walters said of the Beckley purchase. “It’s in the same TV market, so now when we advertise on TV, one spot hits all. That makes it really good for us to have both Hyundai stores in the same TV market and that close together.”
Walters said the group does not have any additional acquisitions under contract but is looking for dealerships.
“We’re not really a big metro market guy and we don’t want to get some micro, small location in the middle of nowhere either,” Walters said. “We’re kind of the middle-market guy. If we can find those, we’re excited about doing some good growth.”
Several of Friendship Family of Dealerships’ stores are past Automotive News Best Dealerships To Work For winners.
