Partner Article

Vertu cruises for more acquisitions

FAST-GROWING motor dealer Vertu, which has snapped up eight dealerships in the last year, yesterday said it was on the hunt for more, armed with a £15m warchest.

The Newcastle company posted a 24% rise in pre-tax profit to £5.2m on sales of £511.1m for the six months to September.

Earlier this year, it acquired Boydslaw, the owner of Dunfermline Autocentre and a sponsor of the town’s football club, and in June, two dual-franchised Ford and Mazda dealerships in Glasgow and Hamilton.

“I can’t say whether we have our sights set on any particular new target in Scotland at the moment,” Vertu’s chief executive Robert Forrester told The Herald newspaper.

“We’re comfortable with what we have and our geographic spread there – but we’re certainly open to the possibility of further acquisitions.”

Vertu operates 70 franchised and four non-franchised outlets from 59 locations across the UK, including Ford, Vauxhall and Peugeot outlets.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .