Dealership Buy-Sell Frenzy Creates Year-End Hurdle

Brokers, lawyers, and accountants say they are seeing delays in getting automaker approvals for some transactions or getting necessary tasks completed in time to close deals before the December holidays.

With the volume of dealership buy-sell deals on track to reach record heights in 2021, the usual year-end rush to complete transactions is hitting some snags.

J. Duncan Douglas, a principal for Partner Engineering and Science Inc., of Torrance, Calif., estimates his firm’s automotive services revenue — which includes work such as dealership environmental site assessments and building inspections — has nearly tripled this year compared with 2020, itself a record year.

Douglas said his firm in some cases in the past five months has requested an extra week to complete work for dealership clients if it fits timelines for deal closings.

“Through our staff increases and a lot of hustle by our dedicated automotive services team in completing due diligence work, we have been able to keep deals on track,” Douglas wrote in an email.

Read the full article here on AutomotiveNews.com.