British Firm to Buy 50% of Campbell Automotive

A British auto retailer has agreed to pay $13.5 million in cash for a 50% interest in Irvine-based Campbell Automotive Group, one of the biggest auto dealership groups in Orange County.

Campbell Automotive plans to use the cash to become a joint venture partner with Britain’s Lex Service PLC and double its operations and sales within the next few years, John Campbell, president and chief executive, said Thursday.

The Irvine company already owns seven car dealerships plus two body shops in Orange County. The firm, which has 520 employees, reported 1987 sales of $140 million, Campbell said.

With the agreement with Lex, “we look to have $300 million in sales, 1,000 employees and 14 dealerships in the next few years,” Campbell said. Plans so far call for the additional dealerships to be added throughout Southern California, with an emphasis on Orange County.

Privately owned Campbell Automotive envisions the joint venture as a way to expand its sales by offering customers more variety. “The broader our product lines, the more opportunity we have to capture customers and keep them within our group,” Campbell said.

Lex is one of the largest car and truck retailers in Great Britain. The publicly held company has 64 dealerships, including 16 of Vauxhaul, Britain’s General Motors franchise; 14 Austin Rover dealerships, and five Ford dealerships. The company also handles Rolls-Royce, Jaguar and Audi.

With the transaction, Lex will own half of the new, larger company, Campbell said.

Campbell Automotive’s dealerships now include Campbell Ford of Garden Grove, Campbell Mazda of Costa Mesa and Campbell Nissan of Huntington Beach. In Buena Park, there is Campbell Mitsubishi, Campbell Nissan, Campbell Mazda and Campbell Motor Cars Limited.