Eagers takes 50% of $600m Zagame group in super-luxury move

Eagers Automotive has signed a non-binding agreement to take a 50% interest in Zagame Automotive Group, the Melbourne and Adelaide super-luxury retailer, to be run as a joint venture with founder Bobby Zagame.

Zagame turned over about $600 million in the 12 months to June 2026 on roughly 2,000 new vehicle sales and 1,800 used and wholesale sales. Completion is targeted for the end of November, subject to OEM consent, finance approval, regulatory approval and landlord consents. Eagers says the investment will be immediately earnings accretive.

The group carries 14 brands. In Victoria it is the exclusive dealer for Aston Martin, Bentley, Brabus, Fiat, Ferrari, McLaren, Lamborghini and Rolls-Royce, with Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Audi and Cupra representation alongside. In South Australia it holds exclusive Bentley, Ferrari and Lamborghini rights and services Rolls-Royce and McLaren. It is also the exclusive distributor for Pagani Automobili and Singer Vehicle Design in Australia and New Zealand, and runs an autosports division and a panel business.

Buying where the disruption isn’t

Eagers is explicit about the logic. The announcement describes the decision to lift exposure to luxury and super-luxury as targeting “an area of the market with lower levels of disruption as a result of the current industry transition and new market entrants”.

That is a direct read on where volume retailing has gone. Chinese brands took 26.4% of the Australian market in August and five of the top 10 places, while Ford, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Nissan and Volkswagen all fell more than 30% for the month.

The economics differ sharply from Eagers’ other Australian deals this year. Zagame generates about $300,000 of annual revenue for every new vehicle it sells, against roughly $127,000 at the two Audi dealerships Eagers bought in April and about $80,000 at Grand Motors Group.

“This is a partnership, not an exit,” Zagame Automotive Group founder and executive director Bobby Zagame says.

“I have spent decades building this business alongside our people, our customers and our manufacturer partners, and choosing the right partner mattered enormously to me.”

“Bobby Zagame is an industry leader in the premium and ultra luxury market segments, an area where Eagers has historically had limited exposure,” Eagers chief executive Keith Thornton says.

Thornton says the April purchase of the two Audi dealerships from Zagame led to the discussions behind this transaction. Zagame ran five Audi stores in Victoria before that sale and retains three.

Fifth partnership structure this year

The deal continues a shift in how Eagers buys. It took a stake rather than control in CanadaOne Auto, 49% of Grand Motors Group, 17.5% of subscription business Karmo, and now half of Zagame, having historically favoured outright purchases. Over the same period it agreed to sell its New Zealand franchised dealership network to Armstrong’s Motor Group.

Those two moves land in the same quarter. Eagers expects to settle out of New Zealand franchised retail in the final quarter, while the Zagame transaction, targeted for the end of November, gives it a half interest in the exclusive distributor for Pagani and Singer in Australia and New Zealand.

There is also substantial geographic overlap. Zagame operates Melbourne sites at Essendon Fields, Mornington, Richmond, Tullamarine and Bentleigh, four of which are suburbs where Eagers already trades. In Adelaide both groups have a West Terrace address, with Zagame also at Frewville.

Bobby Zagame founded the group in 2000 and will continue to lead the business under the joint venture.