Milton Keynes team advises on acquisition for US-based car retail group

The deal follows a series of high-profile transactions from the Automotive team, including acting for dealership groups Steven Eagell, Listers and FRF on their purchase of Motorline Limited’s entire network of 19 Toyota and Lexus dealerships last year.

The firm’s expertise in the automotive retail sector and depth of resource were again key to the success of the latest transaction.

Led by Corporate partner and head of Automotive, Tom Redman, the Howes Percival team included Corporate lawyers Ben Hancox, Bradley Johnson, Olivia Robinson and Shivani Sehmi. Marcus Carter, Graham Jones and Charlotte Harrison looked after Property, while Employment Law was handled by Hannah Pryce, Sobia Ahmad and Anna Bithrey.

Commercial law was handled by Mayoori Ravichandran, with Zara Khan and Stephen Ruse looking after IP matters. Robert Starr (Regulatory), Bilal Ehsan (Immigration) and Simon Franklin (Construction) completed the Howes Percival team.

Tom Redman commented, “We are absolutely delighted to have acted for Group 1 Automotive on this acquisition.

"Once again, we were glad to be able to offer the depth of resource and specialist automotive-retail knowledge necessary to deliver a multi-site transaction as we continue to support Group 1 with the expansion of its UK operations. We wish them every success as they integrate the new dealerships into their existing portfolio.”

Hill Dickinson acted for the sellers. Birketts acted for senior management. Freeths acted for MBFS. CMS acted for the Bank of East Asia.