British to Buy Russian Car Dealer
Inchcape Plc, Great Britain's largest car dealer, is in negotiations for the acquisition of 100 percent of Musa Motors, which is estimated to be worth $400-450 million. Musa Motors is the official dealer of Volvo, Land Rover, Jaguar Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge and Renault. Inchcape already handles sales of Toyota, Lexus, Peugeot and Audi in Russia. The new acquisition will give it a 3-percent share of Russia's auto market, valued at $41-44 billion. According to a source close to Musa Motors owner Boris Teterev, a memorandum of intention has been signed on the purchase. Neither side was willing to comment on this information.
Inchcape is also active in Australia, Belgium, Greece, Hong Kong and Singapore. Its annual turnover in 2006 was $9.75 billion. The Musa Motors holding was founded by Teterev in 1992. Besides Musa Motors dealerships, it consists of TC Motors in Latvia (exclusive importer of Chrysler & Jeep), BorisKhof (BMW and Mini) and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Moscow. Its turnover is estimated at $500-600 million last year.
Inchcape bought 75.1 percent of Axsel Car (Russian dealer of Toyota and Lexus) from Olimp owner Evgeny Voitenkov in July 2006. It bought Russian Peugeot dealer Konkord and Audi dealer Orgtekhstroi from the same company for $43 million in October 2007. The British holding also participated in the construction of two dealerships in Russia. Sales of foreign cars in Russia rose 61 percent last year to 1.65 million vehicles.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Feb. 18, 2008
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