Chapelhouse Motor Group has completed the acquisition of three motor retail sites from Bolton Car Company for an undisclosed sum.

Taking its number of sites to nine, £58.7 million (2018) turnover Chapelhouse has taken on BCC’s Suzuki franchises in Bolton and Blackburn and its Citroen franchise in Wigan.

Chapelhouse Group operations director, Chris Layton, said: “We are delighted to acquire these businesses from Bolton Car Company as they share many similarities with our own, having been part of a family-owned business built over many years operating similar franchises in neighbouring towns.

“We will cover the North West area with our nine sites offering Suzuki, Kia, Citroen and Fiat vehicles, service and parts to an extended customer base; ensuring we continue to provide our excellent customer experience for which we are known.”

Founded in 1989, in St Helens, Chapelhouse has since undertaken a number of local acquisitions and currently comprises six branches across nine sites in the North West representing Suzuki, Citroen and Kia, as well as Vauxhall, Fiat, Saab, Peugeot and Hyundai.

Bolton Car Company also has a strong presence in the North West – representing Suzuki, Hyundai and Citroen – and were recently nominated for seven awards at the 2018 Citroen Excellence Awards, winning three of them.

All 52 staff from the three BCC sites will pass over to the Chapelhouse business, Layton told AM.

He said that the acquisition had not been part of a wider push for expansion, but represented a logical growth into its existing market area. He added: “We expect the businesses to be immediately profits enhancing and we know that there a number of synergies with our own businesses in the area that will help us improve of their performance under BCC.

“These sites are a great fit for us. Chapelhouse and BCC share a lot of common values.”

David Kendrick, head of automotive and partner at UHY Hacker Young in Manchester, managed the deal ensuring that both sides were able to progress the transaction to completion advising on heads of terms, due diligence and the asset purchase agreement.

Kendrick said: “This acquisition represents a great opportunity for Chapelhouse Motor Group to expand into a neighbouring territory and for a long-established business like Bolton Car Company to reduce their representation points and enable them to focus on their remaining core sites.”