Growth for Dennis & Co.
Dennis & Co. founder and CEO Brian Dennis said the Clifton Park store fits perfectly with his company brand, especially geographically, as most of the group’s stores are in metro and suburban New York markets.
“It’s a well-run store that always performed really well and caught our eye when it became available,” Dennis said. “It was an instant fit.”
He said the group plans to separate the Jeep brand into a standalone store. Clifton Park is north of Albany.
Heading south, the Aug. 16 Infiniti dealership purchase from Bernie Moreno and partner Oleg Kislyansky helped Dennis & Co. expand into a third state. The group also has a store in New Jersey.
Dennis & Co. has kept the Florida dealership’s name.
“It’s a ridiculous facility, it’s one of the nicest dealerships I’ve ever been in,” Dennis said of the Coral Gables dealership, west of Miami. “I couldn’t find a penny to put anywhere. Bernie did such a nice job there.”
Moreno, a former U.S. Senate candidate-hopeful in his home state of Ohio, for now owns no new-vehicle dealerships after having as many as 15 dealerships. Moreno slowly sold off his stores and began to focus on tech startups.
He originally intended to sell the Coral Gables store to Kislyansky. “Strategically, it just wasn’t a good fit for him,” Moreno said.
With its Florida purchase, Dennis & Co. now operates 12 dealerships in three states. The group has added numerous stores since mid-2021, with another deal expected to close soon, Dennis told Automotive News.
Stevan LaBonte, of LaBonte Law Group in Jericho, N.Y., represented Dennis & Co. in both purchases, while Willie Beck of buy-sell firm Bel Air Partners of Hopewell, N.Y., represented Moreno in the sale of his dealership. Woody Woodward, of DCG Acquisitions, a Dave Cantin Group company, represented Zappone in the sale of his dealership.