Hertfordshire-based Brayleys Cars has bought Thames Honda for an undisclosed sum.
It is Brayleys’ first acquisition since the Dubai-based AW Rostamani Group became its majority shareholder in 2018.
The Honda dealerships are located in Ruislip, Ewell, Leatherhead and Thames Ditton. They join Brayleys’ three existing Honda franchises in Enfield, St Albans and Hemel Hempstead.
Brayleys, which also represents Kia, Mazda, Renault and Dacia, is rated 105 in the Motor Trader Top 200 with annual turnover of £119.2m in 2018.
AW Rostamani operates in a number of industry sectors across the United Arab Emirates. Its flagship subsidiary, AWR Arabian Automobiles is the distributor for Nissan, Infiniti and Renault in Dubai and the Northern Emirates, with 21 showrooms and 16 service centres.
Brayleys was founded 16 years ago with a single Honda outlet in St Albans. Managing director Paul Brayley continues to run the business with the management team, supported by two senior executives of AW Rostamani Group, who joined the board six months ago.
According to Companies House last year Brayleys saw like-for-like new car sales volumes rise 6% compared to a decline of -9% UK wide for the brands it represents.
Its used car sales volumes fell -4% but it improved gross margins on used cars by 31%. An ongoing push on service plans also lifted the aftersales contribution for the group.
Brayley said: “For over 13 years Thames Honda has developed into a successful Honda retailer serving customers across the South East and North West London territories. The company has built up a good reputation and shares Brayleys’ philosophy of putting customers and staff at the heart of the business.
“Our purchase of the group comes at an exciting time in Honda’s product cycle with several new hybrid and pure electric model launches starting this year, so I am looking forward to welcoming all the Thames Honda staff into the Brayleys family and further strengthening our partnership with the Honda brand.”