Autoleague transaction novel for the new car retail industry says law firm

The commercial law firm that acted for the Autoleague group in its capital raise and management-led $150 million buyout from Japanese conglomerate, IDOM Inc, says the deal structure and number of stakeholders involved in the transaction was quite novel for the new car retail industry.

Macpherson Kelley says the acquisition was led by a group of executives and dealer principals who acquired IDOM Inc.’s equity in the corporate group. 

The Macpherson Kelley team was led by Principal Terry Kokkinos with key support from special counsel, Meileng Tam and lawyers, Oscar Sach-Haber and Setareh Aminian. 

Macpherson Kelley says its automotive team is certainly not new to the industry and has acted on more than one hundred dealership buy-sells over the years. 

It says the team relied on every bit of that experience together their intimate understanding of the automotive industry and broader large scale commercial transaction experience to support the buyer group in this deal. 

Taking a collaborative approach, Macpherson Kelley says its team balanced the complex needs of multiple stakeholders and worked closely with all advisors involved in the deal to promptly and creatively resolve the obstacles and sticking points which invariably arise in such transactions. 

“It was a privilege to work alongside the management and investor teams in this milestone in the automotive group’s evolution,” Principal lawyer Terry Kokkinos says. 

“The transaction was uniquely structured to include not only investment from the key executives and dealer principals that have driven the recent success and growth of the group, but also from a select group of private investors who will add another level of diversity, knowledge and business experience,” he says. 

The complex deal had a tight window in which to execute due diligence, capital raising, debt- funding, pre and post completion restructuring, key contract negotiation, regulatory advice and numerous landlord and OEM approvals says the commercial law firm. 

“I am very appreciative and grateful for the support provided by the Autoleague dealer principals, the team at Macpherson Kelley and the other advisors which included Sam Venn leading the BDO team as corporate advisor to the deal,” Kokkinos says. 

“I think the new brand reflects the enthusiasm and energy of the Autoleague team and their desire to build on the group’s recent success – I’m sure they’ll enjoy the ride,” he says.