* Autohaus is the 17th largest Mercedes-Benz dealerships in the U.S.
* AutoNation also to acquire rights to establish new Mercedes-Benz dealership
in Palm Beach County, Florida
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Feb. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AutoNation, Inc.
(NYSE: AN), America's largest automotive retailer, today announced that it has
signed an agreement to acquire the Autohaus Mercedes-Benz dealership in
Pompano Beach, Florida. AutoNation also announced that it has signed a
separate agreement to acquire certain rights to establish a new Mercedes-Benz
dealership in Palm Beach County, Florida.
The acquisition of Autohaus Mercedes-Benz, which is located in Broward
County, is expected to close in the first quarter of 2006. The acquisition of
the rights to establish a new Mercedes-Benz dealership in Palm Beach County,
Florida is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2006 and it is expected
that the dealership will commence operations in 2008. Upon completion of the
acquisition of Autohaus and the establishment of the new Mercedes-Benz
dealership, AutoNation would own seven Mercedes-Benz dealerships in Florida
and 34 total dealerships in South Florida.
"This acquisition reiterates AutoNation's commitment to providing our
customers the widest and most appealing selection in the industry," said Mike
Maroone, AutoNation president and chief operating officer. "Mercedes-Benz
represents the pinnacle of automotive design and engineering, and AutoNation
is the country's premier automotive retailer, so this is a fitting
continuation of our relationship. We currently operate more Mercedes-Benz
dealerships than any other retailer in the United States, and AutoNation is
proud to match the brand's innovative, exceptional styling with a retail
environment that is built around customer satisfaction."
Terms of the all-cash transactions, which are subject to certain
conditions and approvals, were not disclosed. AutoNation estimates that the
annual revenue from the Autohaus dealership will be approximately
$230 million.
The dealership occupies approximately 17 acres in a prime retail location
in Broward County, including a state-of-the-art service facility and body
shop.
Currently, AutoNation offers 17 brands of vehicle at locations from
Kendall to North Palm Beach, including Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler/Jeep,
Dodge, Ford, Honda, Isuzu, Kia, Lexus, Lincoln-Mercury, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan,
Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo. AutoNation's dealerships also offer used
vehicles, parts and service, and finance and insurance products.
About AutoNation, Inc.
AutoNation, Inc., headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is America's
largest automotive retailer and a component of the Standard and Poor's 500
Index. In 2004 AutoNation was named America's Most Admired Automotive
Retailer for the 4th year in a row. AutoNation has approximately 27,000 full-
time employees and owns and operates 345 new vehicle franchises in 17 states.
For additional information, please visit http://corp.AutoNation.com or
http://www.AutoNation.com , where more than 100,000 vehicles are available for
sale.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain statements and information included in this release constitute
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Federal Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements
involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may
cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be
materially different from any future results, performance or achievements
expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. Additional discussion
of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from
management's projections, estimates and expectations is contained in the
Company's SEC filings. The Company undertakes no duty to update its forward-
looking statements.
SOURCE AutoNation, Inc.
-0- 02/08/2006
/CONTACT: Marc Cannon of AutoNation, +1-954-769-3146, or
cannonm@autonation.com/
/Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20001017/AUTONATIONLOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com /
/Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/750525.html /
/Web site: http://corp.autonation.com
http://www.AutoNation.com /
(AN)
CO: AutoNation, Inc.; Autohaus Mercedes-Benz
ST: Florida
IN: AUT REA
SU: RLE
MR-DS
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5445 02/08/2006 17:30 EST http://www.prnewswire.com