4th Oct 2007 07:01
Inchcape PLC04 October 2007 INCHCAPE CONTINUES EXPANSION IN HIGH GROWTH RUSSIAN MARKET $43m acquisition broadens brand representation Major $26m Toyota site expansion New flagship Lexus centre announced Inchcape plc ('Inchcape' or the 'Group'), the world's leading car retailer,today announces significant progress in executing its growth strategy in Russia.The Group confirms it has acquired a 75.1% shareholding in the retail businessesof OOO Orgtekhstroy ("OTS"), an Audi retail business in St Petersburg, and OOOConcord ("Concord"), a Peugeot retail business, for a total cash considerationof US$43m (£21.6m) from its existing St Petersburg Joint Venture partner, OlimpGroup. In addition, the Group announces the US$26m (£13m) relocation andexpansion of its existing Toyota Rustavelli site and its intention to relocatethe current Lexus retail centre to a new flagship Lexus site in St Petersburg. The acquisition increases Inchcape's presence in St Petersburg, the secondlargest city in Russia, and is in line with the Group's strategy to develop ascale position in Russia. It is another step in the implementation of theGroup's multi-brand retail footprint with its OEM brand partners, enabling it tohave broad segment coverage of one of the fastest growing markets in the world. Both the Audi and Peugeot businesses operate from new, large-scale facilities.The Audi Center Vitebsky opened in March 2007 and is the newest of three Audidealerships in St Petersburg. The Peugeot business of OOO Concord is one of fourPeugeot dealerships in St Petersburg and is the largest Peugeot dealership inEurope. Inchcape is acquiring these businesses from the same consortium ofshareholders it bought the Toyota and Lexus retail businesses from in 2006. Thenew businesses will come under Inchcape's existing Russian managementinfrastructure in St Petersburg. As a result of the rapid growth of the St Petersburg Toyota operation, Inchcapehas committed to an additional investment of US$26m (£13m) for the relocationand expansion of the existing Rustavelli Toyota site on new land acquiredadjacent to the existing retail outlet, which has reached its capacity. Russia's car market is the largest in Central and Eastern Europe and isexperiencing rapid growth; Audi and Peugeot have achieved year-on-year growth of69% and 58% respectively in the first seven months of 2007. Inchcape's existingToyota and Lexus business in St Petersburg sold 3,800 new cars from its threeretail outlets in the first half of 2007. Following the acquisition, expansion investment and new build Lexus project,Inchcape will have five dealerships in St Petersburg which will have coverage of13.5% of the foreign brand market. Andre Lacroix, Group Chief Executive of Inchcape, commented: "We are excited about this further expansion into the fast growing Russianmarket as well as the opportunity to work with brand partners Toyota, Lexus,Audi and Peugeot in St Petersburg. The acquisition and expansion provides uswith a solid footprint to drive further consolidation as we take advantage ofour strong local market understanding and management, our global OEMrelationships and our unique global retail model for growth. "I am particularly pleased that Inchcape is expanding with our existing partnerOlimp Group. The partnership has proved extremely successful for both parties todate and we look forward to continuing the relationship. "Our strong balance sheet has enabled us to invest in first class sites andfacilities that gives us access to a strong and established infrastructure in abooming market and further strengthens our position as the leading internationalcar retailer." For further information, please contact: Group Communications, Inchcape plc+44 (0) 20 7546 0022 Investor Relations, Inchcape plc+44 (0) 20 7546 8432 Financial Dynamics (Jonathon Brill/Billy Clegg)+44 (0) 20 7831 3113 Notes to editors Inchcape plc Inchcape plc is the leading independent, international automotiveretailer, with scale operations in Australia, Belgium, Greece, Hong Kong,Singapore and the UK. The Group also has operations in a number of othermarkets, including Eastern Europe, the Baltic's, Russia and South America. Inaddition to growing its core businesses, Inchcape is looking to develop scaleoperations in new and emerging regions. It represents leading automotive brandsand operates either a retail, or a vertically integrated retail model (i.e.exclusive distribution and retail), depending on the market. Inchcape's currentkey manufacturer partners are Toyota/Lexus, Subaru, BMW, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz,Volkswagen, Audi and Honda. For further information, visit us at www.inchcape.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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