Fuccillo Kia enters into dealership purchase agreement
Two local Fuccillo Kia dealerships have a huge deal on the table.
A Plantation-based automotive holding company has entered into a dealership purchase agreement to acquire the Fuccillo Kia dealerships in Cape Coral and Port Charlotte as well as related real estate sales contracts.
According to documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, LMP Automotive Holdings, Inc., a Delaware corporation, has entered into a “dealership asset purchase agreement with William B. Fuccillo, Sr., Fuccillo Affiliates of Florida, Inc. and Fuccillo Associates of Florida, Inc. to acquire assets related to the ownership and operation of Kia motor vehicle dealerships at 404 N.E. Pine Island Road, Cape Coral and 202 Tamiami Trail, Port Charlotte” with LMP Automotive to pay to “an aggregate amount of approximately $36,000,000.”
Assets to be acquired include new and used car inventory and goodwill but exclude such assets as all trade names as well as “any other intellectual property used or usable in the Dealerships’ business containing the name ‘Fuccillo’, ‘Billy’, ‘Huge’, ‘It’s Huge'” or any combination of these words.
In connection with the dealership asset purchase agreement, LMP Automotive also has entered into a real estate contract with WBF Florida Properties, LLC and WBF Florida Properties III, LLC, in which the company agreed to acquire the real property, buildings and site improvements located at the dealerships for $33,100,000.
The Cape property, owed by WBF Florida Properties, LLC, has a purchase price allocation of $13,100,000 to include a main parcel of 10.8 acres and an adjacent parcel of 9.77 acres
The Port Charlotte property, owned by WBF Florida Properties III, LLC, has a purchase price allocation of $16,800,000 for the dealership’s 26.30 acres and $3,200,000 for an additional 11 acres.
The acquisition is subject to “certain customary conditions,” in addition to the approval of KIA Motors America, Inc., the report to the SEC dated Sept. 3 states.
Closing will be at a “mutually agreed to business day by the Closing Date Deadline,” with that deadline listed as Dec. 31, 2020 in the filing.
A non-compete provision is included as well, with restricted territories listed as Charlotte, Glades, Hendry, Collier, Sarasota, DeSoto, Highlands and Glades counties.
It does not affect other Fuccillo dealerships in Florida.
“Nothing herein prohibits the continued operation of Fuccillo Nissan of Clearwater at its current location or Fuccillo Kia of Clermont at its current location upon its completion of construction in 2021,” the filed contract states.
LMP issued a press release announcing the acquisition of two Kia dealerships in “two of the fastest growing regions in the Florida market.” The specific dealerships are not named in the Sept. 3 release.
The acquisition is expected to add approximately $210 million in annual revenue, $7.1 million in income and $0.64 per share in 2021,” the release states, adding the acquisition will “magnify the roll-out of the Company’s hybrid e-commerce home delivery, site-to-store, and ship-from-store delivery strategies…”
The company’s media contact could not immediately be reached for comment.
City officials greeted the news as a positive in terms of continued interest in both the Cape and properties along Pine Island Road.
“It is great to see the continued interest on the Pine Island Road Corridor. I am hopeful the new ownership will continue the great community partnerships maintained by the Fuccillo Team over the years and I look forward to meeting and working with them on building on the success from the past and present,” said Ricardo Noguera, Cape Coral economic development manager.
LMP Automotive Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: LMPX) describes its business model as “‘Buy, Subscribe, Sell and Repeat.’ This means that we ‘Buy’ pre-owned automobiles primarily through auctions or directly from other automobile dealers, and new automobiles from manufacturers and manufacturer distributors at fleet rates,” the LMP release states. “We ‘Subscribe’ to our customers by allowing them to enter into our subscription plan for automobiles in which customers have use of an automobile. Our subscription plans offer the flexibility to upgrade your vehicle to a more premium model or downgrade for a lesser cost model when you like. We ‘Sell’ our inventory, including automobiles previously included in our subscription programs, to customers as well, and then we ‘Repeat’ the whole process.”
According to its website, its stock was trading at $17.30 per share at 4 p.m. Wednesday.