Group 1 Automotive Inc. has completed the sale of its Brazilian operations.
The Houston-based dealership group said Tuesday that its subsidiary GPI SA LLC closed on the share purchase agreement transaction with Original Holdings S.A. of Brazil.
Group 1 said Original Holdings bought equity interests of UAB from Group 1 for 510 million in Brazilian reals, or about $94.5 million. UAB had operated 16 dealerships at the end of 2021 that represented BMW, Honda, Land Rover and Toyota and produced about 1.7 billion Brazilian reals, or about $315.1 million, in annual revenue.
Group 1 CEO Earl Hesterberg has said that the public auto retailer faced difficulties in growing the Brazil operations.
“As announced last year, our strategic decision to exit the Brazilian market and redeploy capital to other growth opportunities is in the best interest of our shareholders,” Hesterberg said in a statement Tuesday. “We look to continue growth via acquisitions in both the U.S. and U.K. markets, while also returning capital to our shareholders.”
Group 1 ranks No. 4 on Automotive News‘ list of the top 150 dealership groups in the U.S., with retail sales of 146,072 new vehicles in 2021. It continues to operate 201 dealerships in the U.S. and United Kingdom.