Kansas City luxury dealership sold to Baxter Auto Group; Transaction marks 183rd dealership sold since 2015 by Kerrigan Advisors, the premier sell-side dealership advisor to top luxury dealerships in growth markets

Kerrigan Advisors, the premier sell-side advisor and thought partner to auto dealers nationwide, represented Holman, a global automotive services organization, in its sale of Audi Shawnee Mission to Omaha, Nebraska-based Baxter Auto Group. The dealership, newly built in 2016, is the highest volume Audi dealership in the Kansas City MSA, a growing market with a strong economy and a highly educated workforce. It is also the 5th highest volume luxury dealership in the greater Kansas City metro area.

“We were honored to assist Holman in the strategic sale of its Audi franchise in Kansas City,” said Erin Kerrigan, Founder and Managing Director of Kerrigan Advisors. “Knowing Holman’s commitment to community, creating a positive workplace and providing exceptional customer service, it was essential to identify a buyer that shared these key values. We found that in Baxter Auto Group who proved to be the perfect fit.”

For nearly a century, Holman has applied a standard of excellence to its business, growing from a single Ford dealership in 1924 into the 26th largest dealership group by 2022 new unit sales in the United States. Today, Holman owns twenty eight dealerships in eight states under twenty brands and six major divisions in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and Europe. Like Holman, Baxter Auto Group is a family-owned enterprise led by Mickey Anderson. Founded in 1957, Baxter is currently the 33rd largest U.S. dealership group and serves communities in Nebraska, Kansas, and Colorado.

“Holman is pleased to be passing Audi Shawnee Mission’s keys to another family-owned company, one whose values, like ours, start with commitment to their community and employees,” said Gene Welsh, President, Retail Automotive for Holman. “With this transaction, we believe we are putting the Audi Shawnee Mission team in a better position for growth with Baxter who operates a number of premier dealerships in the region. We could not be more pleased with Kerrigan Advisors to have found an ideal buyer for Audi Shawnee Mission. Erin and her team kept our strategic objectives at the forefront during every stage of the sale process and shepherded this transaction to a successful outcome.”

“Audi is a growth franchise with a strong product lineup, and it’s particularly strong in the Central Region,” said Ryan Kerrigan, Managing Director of Kerrigan Advisors. “We continue to see buyers shifting their investments to high growth, less risky franchises, particularly where they can build out a regional footprint in a more meaningful way as Baxter is doing in Kansas City. This transaction is further evidence that the best dealerships in the fastest growing, most business-friendly markets will see robust interest from buyers in 2023,” continued Ryan Kerrigan.

A growth brand, Audi has nearly doubled its US light vehicle market share since 2008; as of September 2022, the brand’s market share in the Central Region was up 2.3% — significantly outperforming its top luxury competitors. The Audi Shawnee Mission dealership is in Johnson County, the most populous and fastest growing county in the state, and where the highest volume top luxury dealerships in the Kansas City are located. The larger Kansas City metro area has grown 19% since 2000, nearly 10% higher than the U.S. and with a thriving economy: more than 46% of households boast annual incomes that are 6% higher than the U.S. average.

Kerrigan Advisors is the most active sell-side advisor on larger transactions in the auto retail industry, achieving the highest sale price per client of any firm over the last five years. The firm attributes its success to its team’s laser-focus on fulfilling each client’s personal and professional goals. In addition to its sell-side advisory work, the firm offers strategic consulting services to dealers and their families, including growth planning, capital raising and valuation analysis, creating value at every stage of the auto retail lifecycle.

James M. Kearney and Tyler J. Runsten of Stoel Rives LLP served as legal counsel to Holman. Don Erftmier, Jr. of Erftmier Law, LLC served as legal counsel to Baxter.

About Kerrigan Advisors

Kerrigan Advisors is the premier sell-side advisor and thought partner to auto dealers nationwide. The firm advises the industry’s leading dealership groups, enhancing value through the lifecycle of growing, operating and, when the time is right, selling their businesses. Kerrigan Advisors has represented on some of auto retail’s largest transactions and advised more of the largest dealership groups in the US than any other buy/sell firm in the industry. Led by a team of veteran industry experts with backgrounds in investment banking, private equity, accounting, finance and real estate, the firm does not take listings, rather they develop a customized approach for each client to achieve their personal and financial goals. In addition to Kerrigan Advisors’ sell-side advisory and capital raising services, the firm also provides a suite of consulting services including growth strategy, market valuation assessments, capital allocation, transactional due diligence, open point proposals, operational improvement and real estate due diligence.

Kerrigan Advisors monitors conditions in the buy/sell market and publishes an in-depth analysis each quarter in The Blue Sky Report®, which includes Kerrigan Advisors’ signature blue sky charts, multiples, and analysis for each franchise in the luxury and non-luxury segments. To download a preview of the report, click here. The firm also releases monthly The Kerrigan Index™ composed of the seven publicly traded auto retail companies with operations focused on the US market. The Kerrigan Auto Retail Index is designed to track dealership valuation trends, while also providing key insights into factors influencing auto retail. To access The Kerrigan Index™, click here. To read the 2022 Kerrigan Dealer Survey, click here. Kerrigan Advisors also is the co-author of NADA’s Guide to Buying and Selling a Dealership.

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