Vertu acquires further four showrooms in South West in £6.2m deal

Motor retailer Vertu has purchased what it describes as one of the most successful Honda dealer businesses in the UK.

The Gateshead-based firm has agreed a £6.2m deal for Rowes Garage Limited which has four sales sites in the South West. As well as Honda showrooms in Plymouth, Plymstock and Truro, Rowes also operated a Suzuki franchised outlet in Plymouth, which Vertu said will continue to operate as a used car outlet and Suzuki authorised repairer on acquisition and later refranchised.

All four sites will immediately be rebranded under the Vertu and Bristol Street Motors names. The move follows Vertu's £120m acquisition of the Helston group of 28 garages in 2022 - the firm's biggest deal in its history.

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This latest move means Vertu now operates 34 sites in the South West, including its first site Plymouth. And the group, which was already Honda's largest retailer in the UK, will now run 17 outlets for the brand. Altogether the group now boasts 193 sites across the UK.

In an update to shareholders, Vertu said Rowes achieved £30m in 2022 with operating profit of £745,000. The £6.2m to be paid out of Vertu's cash resources includes freehold properties worth £3.6m and a goodwill payment of £900,000. Investors were told the business is expected to contribute a loss for the remaining four months of the financial year, up to the end of February 2024, but is expected to be earnings enhancing in its first full year of ownership.

Robert Forrester, CEO of Vertu Motors, said: "I am delighted to deliver further expansion for the group in the South West of England following the successful and accretive Helston acquisition. The long standing successful Rowes business is a great addition to the group's 14 existing Honda sales outlets and increases scale further in the South West where we will operate 34 outlets. We continue to execute our strategy to build a scaled business."

Half year results for Vertu, published earlier this month show the business ramped up turnover by 21% to £2.4bn and delivered an adjusted pre-tax profit of £31.5m. The firm said that shortages of new vehicles were beginning to ease and used car prices were returning to more normal levels having soared post-pandemic.