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The Presidio Group Advises on the Acquisition of Classic BMW in Texas

By: via Business Wire

World-class transaction between two legendary Texas auto dealership families

The Presidio Group LLC (“Presidio”), an independent merchant banking firm focused on mergers and acquisitions, capital raising, and investments in the automotive retail and consumer mobility sectors, exclusively advised Carl Sewell and his family on the historic acquisition of Classic BMW. The transaction included a BMW dealership franchise and a MINI dealership franchise at the same location in Plano, Texas.

“Since the opening of our first BMW store in Grapevine, Texas in 2017, we have been honored to be a BMW dealer,” said Carl Sewell III, president of Sewell Automotive Companies. “With the help of Brodie Cobb, George Karolis, and their incredible team at The Presidio Group, we are thrilled to add Classic BMW, one of the finest BMW dealerships in the country, to our group. We are also grateful to Eric Maas and the Maas family for this opportunity.”

“Our family has focused our expansion on the highest quality businesses, and Classic BMW is at the top of that list,” said Jacquelin Sewell, president of Sewell Automotive Companies. “We welcome Classic BMW and MINI to the Sewell family and look forward to continuing the dealership’s 50-year legacy of outstanding service to the Plano community and the greater Dallas-Fort Worth area.”

Classic BMW was founded in 1971 by Lee Maas, who worked as a manager at local Cadillac and Chevrolet stores. Classic BMW began in a 3,000-square-foot building, where Mr. Maas employed his family to help in all aspects of their burgeoning business. Fifty years later, Classic BMW has grown to be the largest BMW dealership by footprint in the U.S. with a 160,000-sf building on 24 acres in Plano, Texas.

“This dealership is a testament to my family’s passion for cars and customers,” said Eric Maas, president of Classic BMW and director of racing operations at Fast Track Racing LLC. “My family wouldn’t consider selling unless we were assured that our legacy of caring for our customers and employees would be continued at the same high standard. The Presidio Group understood that when they approached me about selling to the Sewell family, who literally wrote the book on customer service. We are certain that the Sewell Family will carry on our tradition of treating each customer in the showroom and service drive as if they are part of our own family.”

“Presidio was privileged to work with the Sewell family in helping them strategically grow their portfolio of high-performing luxury dealership franchises in Texas,” said Brodie Cobb, founder and CEO of The Presidio Group. “Rarely in the M&A world do we find parties to a transaction that align philosophically more than the Sewell and Maas families. We were privileged to work so closely with both on this historic Dallas transaction.”

“Classic BMW is the perfect complement to Sewell’s extraordinarily successful Grapevine BMW dealership,” said George Karolis, president of The Presidio Group. “The Texas market is one of the most active in the country in what is a very healthy dealership acquisition environment across the country.”

Sewell’s General Counsel, Jeff Hamilton, served as legal counsel to the buyer. Winston & Strawn LLP served as legal counsel to the seller.

The Presidio Group provided exclusive M&A advisory services to Sewell through its wholly owned investment bank, Presidio Merchant Partners LLC.

About Classic BMW

Classic BMW was founded in 1971 by Lee Maas, who worked as a General Manager at Rodger Meier Cadillac and later at Friendly Chevrolet in Dallas. Classic BMW began in a small, 3000-square-foot building in Richardson, where Mr. Maas opened the first BMW dealership in North Texas and spent a large part of this time educating Texans as to what BMW meant. He launched the Bavarian Motor Works in Texas. He chose the flag of the great state of Texas as the symbol to be placed on each car near the license plate. Fifty years later, Classic BMW has grown to be the largest BMW dealership by footprint in the U.S. with a campus that resides on 24 acres in Plano, Texas. Eric Maas became the president of Classic BMW in 2003 and helped develop the reputation as a company dedicated to customer care that Classic BMW is known for today. Sheryl Maas, the president of Maas Modern LLC, has been leading the development of the campus in Plano with the creation of the main building in 2007, the new Mini of Plano facility, and the soon-to-be-opened Certified Pre-Owned building.

About Sewell Automotive Companies

Sewell Automotive Companies is a private, family owned and operated dealership group founded in 1911. Today, Sewell represents 12 automotive manufacturer brands across its 18 dealerships in the state of Texas. Sewell represents Audi (3), BMW (2), Buick, Cadillac (4), GMC, INFINITI (3), Jaguar, Land Rover, Lexus (2), Mercedes-Benz, MINI, and Subaru, with locations in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Grapevine, Houston, McKinney, Plano, San Antonio, and Sugar Land. The company is committed to giving back and improving the communities it serves and partners with organizations that benefit education, the arts, children’s charities, and related causes. For more information on Sewell, visit sewell.com.

The Presidio Group LLC was founded in 1998 with the simple mission to relentlessly put the interests of our clients first. By steadfastly adhering to this philosophy, the firm has earned the trust of clients throughout the United States. During their careers, the professionals at Presidio have collectively closed more than 205 transactions for over $13.7 billion. It also publishes Presidio’s Where the Rubber Meets the Road, a leading source of information about the automotive retail landscape and the automotive retail M&A environment. The Presidio Group has offices in Denver and Atlanta. Presidio Merchant Partners LLC is a subsidiary of The Presidio Group LLC and is a member of FINRA and SIPC. For more information on Presidio, visit www.thepresidiogroup.com.

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