The partnership also divested 14 stores in 2020 for $49.5 million as Prime shifted its focus to concentrate on its core Northeast markets. But many of those stores were sold for a loss, the regulatory filing shows.
Three Ron Carter Autoland stores and real estate in Houston were sold to ZT Motors for $40.2 million, but the filing said the partnership posted a $2.9 million net loss on the sale of the dealerships and an $800,000 gain on the real estate.
Four F.X. Caprara stores and real estate in New York were sold to Bob Johnson Auto Group for $7.2 million, but the partnership lost a combined $1.6 million on the deal, according to the filing.
The partnership also lost money when Prime sold four Kenny Ross Auto Group stores in Pennsylvania to Atlantic Coast Automotive for $59.4 million. The filing said it posted a net loss of $8.8 million for divesting the dealerships and related real estate. The audit also said the partnership this month sold remaining Kenny Ross real estate for $11.8 million, but it didn’t indicate a profit or loss for that transaction.
The partnership also sold its White River Subaru store in White River Junction, Vt., to former Prime Automotive CEO David Rosenberg and a partner for $17.8 million, including real estate, according to the filing. The net of the sale was nearly a wash, with the partnership gaining $1.3 million on the dealership but losing $1.1 million on the real estate.
In 2018 and 2019, the partnership said it lost money on the sale of three dealerships. A Subaru dealership in Hudson, N.H., was sold in 2018 for a loss of $700,000. F.X. Caprara Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram in Alexandria Bay, N.Y., was sold in 2019 for a $600,000 loss. And F.X. Caprara Imports of Watertown, a Kia dealership in New York, was sold in 2019, also for a loss of $600,000.
In 2019, the partnership bought six Boston-area stores from Gallery Automotive Group for $106.5 million, according to the filing.
Prime ranks No. 18 on Automotive News‘ list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., with retail sales of 31,529 new vehicles in 2020.
