Marshall has acquired the entire share capital of CMG 2007, the parent company of Astle BMW and Mini, Astle Motorrad and Crystal Motor Group.

The acquisition marks Marshall Motor Group’s entry into the BMW and Mini network and includes the Astle BMW businesses in Scunthorpe and Grimsby, together with Mini and BMW motorcycles in Grimsby. 

The price has not been disclosed.

Marshall chief executive Daksh Gupta said: “This is an historically important acquisition for Marshall which fits perfectly with our stated strategy to grow with the right brand partners in the right locations. 

"We are incredibly proud to be partnering with BMW and Mini for the first time and look forward to building a strong relationship with what is undoubtedly one of the most desirable prestige brands in the market.”

With this acquisition, Marshall now joins an exclusive club, along with five other groups, representing all of the major German and British premium car brands - Sytner, Inchcape, Ridgeway, Jardine and Listers.

As part of this acquisition Marshall has also gained the Crystal Motor Group Nissan businesses in Boston, Grantham and Lincoln, which builds greater depth on the Marshall representation with Nissan.

Gupta said: “In line with our strategy to build depth of representation with our key brand partners, we have been working with the team at Nissan for some time to find the right opportunity to grow our representation with Nissan which is, undoubtedly, are one of the most exciting volume brands when you look at their market share growth in recent years.”

These new businesses, together with the acquisitions announced in July - Halesworth Land Rover and Bishop’s Stortford Volvo - will take the annualised turnover of Marshall to £1.2bn and lifts the group’s portfolio to 73 franchised dealerships. 

All 160 staff at Astle BMW and Mini, Astle Motorrad and Crystal Motor Group have transferred to Marshall, bringing the total number of staff at Marshall to around 2,300.

“With our strategic entry to the BMW and Mini networks, we now have a truly balanced portfolio with important partnerships across the volume, alternate premium and premium sectors.  Our priority going forward will be to continue to build with our existing key partners and to grow our specialist representation just as we have recently done with the announcement of our new Maserati business,” Gupta said.

The new sites will be rebranded as Marshall.

CMG 2007 - financials (FY 2013)

Turnover: £76 million (currently tracking at £94m)
Profit before tax: £977m
Profit margin: 1.28%
Return on shareholder funds: 29.09
Return on capital employed: 16.58%
Gearing: 222.27%

> Marshall sells to Brayley

The sale of Marshall's Milton Keynes Mazda,Dacia and Renault site to Brayley Cars was also completed, ending the former's relationship with the brands. "This is part of our ongoing strategy to partner with brands that we want to grow scale with. With only one centre for Renault and Mazda this was not going to be possible. Brayley has the scale and understands these brands," said Gupta.

He also said today's deal marks the completion of his brand portfolio and, but for the possible addition of specialist brands - such as the addition of Maserati - his intention now is to grow representation.  

Paul Brayley, Brayleys' managing director, said: “The acquisition marks the launch of our first European manufacturer franchise. We are excited at the prospect of taking the Renault and Dacia brands forward alongside our commitment to Honda, Kia and Mazda, all of which are bringing exciting new models to market.  We’ve had an extremely positive year to date, including the company’s best ever March performance, so we look ahead with significant optimism.”