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Lookers doubles Mercedes outlets with £55.4m Drayton Group deal

Lookers Drayton Group 1 Shrewsbury
Mercedes-Benz Shrewsbury: now part of Lookers network

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16 August 2016

LOOKERS doubles its Mercedes outlets with the £55.4m purchase of the Drayton Group, four-times winner of Mercedes-Benz Retailer of the Year award.

Drayton Mercedes-Benz is a respected and well-established name in the West Midlands for vehicle sales, servicing and more for the luxury German brand.

The £55.4m acquisition of Drayton Group reinforces Lookers’ position as one of the largest motor retailers in the UK, as Lookers doubles the number of Mercedes-Benz locations in the network to 14. Lookers now have a total of 160 dealerships throughout the UK and Ireland.

The acquisition is another show of confidence by the company in the wider UK automotive market and follows other key acquisitions including last year’s £87.5m purchase of North East-based Benfield and its 30 strong dealership portfolio.

The purchase of Drayton Group is expected to be complete towards the end of October and comes as Lookers refocuses its attention on expanding its core Motor Division following the recent agreement to sell the Parts Division for £120m.

Lookers doubles
Andy Bruce: ‘A perfect fit’

Drayton Group has award-winning teams at locations across Stafford, Stoke, Shrewsbury, Stourbridge, Worcester, Walsall, and Wolverhampton, perfectly complementing the existing network of seven Lookers Mercedes-Benz dealerships across Sussex and Kent.

Lookers chief executive Andy Bruce said: “The acquisition of the group is a perfect fit in terms of franchise, geography and culture. The Drayton Group is a business that we have respected for many years because of its fantastic reputation.

“Together we will now be the largest Mercedes-Benz dealers in the country and one of the largest motor groups in the UK. Importantly though, despite our size, Lookers still operates like a family business that cares about its people.

“We believe every dealership is unique and will have its own profile of customers with their own particular demands.

“We are currently seeing a lot of opportunity in the prestige car market as demand increases among the UK’s discerning motorists. We know that Mercedes-Benz is a fantastic brand with a rich heritage and is one that Lookers has worked well with, built and developed as part of our national network of motor dealerships.”

Mercedes-Benz is continuing to increase in popularity in the UK with Mercedes-Benz and Lookers both confident this growth will continue with exciting new models coming to the market include the all-new 2017 Mercedes-AMG GLC43, Mercedes-AMG GT R, and the 2017 CLA, to name only a few.

This announcement precedes Lookers’ Interim Financial results to be announced to the city on Wednesday 17 August at 7am.

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