Buy-Sell Market Still Hot: Dealership Sales Hit Record

Sales of dealerships hit a record for the first half of the year, regardless of still-high interest rates.

The 204 transactions included 381 franchises, according to Kerrigan Advisors’ second-quarter Blue Sky Report, handily exceeding the next-highest total of 357 franchises in last year’s first half.

The sell-side adviser said that volume almost doubled that seen before the pandemic. The rate so far this year translates to an annualized total of more than 760 sold franchises for another possible record.

The firm credited the robust transaction activity to sellers taking advantage of elevated values that it said are still above prepandemic levels for many franchises, in addition to getting ahead of multiple market disruptors. Its Blue Sky Index measuring franchise values is nearly 75% above 2019 figures.

“Dealership sellers recognize current blue sky prices are highly attractive on a historical basis, though down on average 17% from their peak,” the firm said in its report.

“Sellers seek to lock in today’s elevated values and avoid the potential of further valuation degradation, particularly after the impact of the CDK shutdown and other unforeseen risk factors, such as extreme weather events and political turmoil in a presidential election year.”

Franchise values have fallen from their peak due to declining dealership earnings from pandemic-era highs. Though publicly traded auto groups’ average store earnings fell by more than third from the 2022 peak on a trailing 12-month period through June, Kerrigan said earnings started to stabilize in the second quarter, though still at almost double their level before the pandemic.