Data as of October 1, 2026. GPI at $242. The market is asking $2.9 billion for the entire company.
September 8. Hennessy’s adviser sent out a press release.
It was bragging.
Kerrigan Advisors, one of the two firms that broker most dealership sales in America, wrote that the billion dollars of goodwill Group 1 paid:
“… represents the highest blue sky value ever paid on a per-dealership basis for a 10-dealership group.”
A new benchmark, it said. One hundred million dollars per store. The bank that ran the auction told the world, in print, that nobody has ever paid this much. Sellers do not usually put that in writing. This one did.
Now the buyer.
Group 1’s stock was $358 the day before the deal. It is $242 today. For $1.3 billion at today’s price, Group 1 could buy 5.4 million of its own shares, 45% of the company. Instead it bought ten dealerships in Atlanta and borrowed $1.25 billion at 6.5% to pay for them.
Someone asked that question on the call. July 30.
“It still feels like an expensive deal relative to just buying back your stock.”
Daryl Kenningham’s answer.
“We are really happy with what we paid for these stores, especially compared to what we have seen in other transactions that we’ve either been bidding in or have learned about.”
Translate that. We have been bidding on other stores. We lost. This is what Lexus and Porsche cost now.
Group 1 paid twice as much for Hennessy’s Lexus stores as the market will pay you today for Group 1’s own. Below the line, why the deal could disappoint while the stock delivers, why a man with half his fund riding on it bought more after seeing the bill, and what the whole company would fetch if you sold it at the price Group 1 just paid.
The number is not close to $242.
