Lack of Public Dealership Megadeals in 2022 Left Room for Private Buyer Transactions to Dominate

Business attorney Stephen Dietrich was interviewed by Automotive News about the automotive retail market in 2022. In 2021, megadeals by publicly traded auto retailers dominated the market, but 2022 saw more activity by private dealers and groups. Although the number of dealerships sold decreased, the number of buy-sell transactions in 2022 actually surpassed that of 2021. Mr. Dietrich described the 2022 market as "consistent," explaining that dealership buyers still wanted to complete deals but focused more on geographic stability through acquiring in adjacent markets rather than trying to set up shop in a new market entirely.

"People were still seeing the value [of buying stores], still wanted to get deals done and I think people were very energized to get deals done," he said.

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