7:38 am, December 19, 2022
Vertu Motors has completed its acquisition of the lion’s share of Helston Garages, after receiving approval from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
An announcement on the London Stock Exchange this morning (Dec 19) said the FCA had rubber-stamped the deal, which is worth £182m (£117m consideration and net of anticipated cash and cash equivalents of £65m), and was first revealed on December 8 – as reported by Car Dealer.
It now means 28 of Helston’s dealerships will transfer to listed dealer group Vertu, with the ‘integration process’ commencing ‘immediately’ said Vertu boss Robert Forrester.
The deal also sees Volvo returning to the Vertu portfolio and the company beginning a new relationship with Ferrari.
All dealerships will be rebranded as Vertu Motors and Bristol Street Motors, apart from the sole ‘Carrs’ Ferrari operation in Exeter (pictured), and will take Vertu’s total representation to 188 franchised sites.
The acquisition is minus 12 of Helston’s sites which were recently sold to south coast firm Yeomans. Helston’s Porsche business in Exeter was also snapped up by Rybrook earlier this month.
In today’s announcement, Forrester said: ‘We are delighted that Vertu Motors has completed its acquisition of Helston and 28 sales outlets, further evidence of the execution of our long-term strategy to build scale, geographic coverage and deepen our relationships with our key automotive manufacturers.
‘I have spent much of the last week in the business, have met many highly talented people and visited the impressive and well-invested property estate.
‘The integration process will commence immediately and be largely completed by March 2023.’
The acquisition has led analysts Zeus Capital to upgrade Vertu’s forecasts for FY24 and FY25 EPS by 18.7 per cent and 24.7 per cent, respectively.
Helston Garages has been trading since 1960 and was founded by David Stanley Carr and Betty Vera Carr in the Cornish village of the same name.
