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Penske Completes Australian CV Group Acquisition

Penske Automotive Group Inc., an international automotive retailer, has completed the acquisition of Western Star Trucks Australia Pty Ltd., a distributor of commercial vehicles, related spare parts and aftermarket support across Australia and New Zealand and portions of Southeast Asia from Transpacific Industries Group Limited.

by Staff
August 30, 2013
2 min to read


Penske Automotive Group Inc., an international automotive retailer, has completed the acquisition of Western Star Trucks Australia Pty Ltd., a distributor of commercial vehicles, related spare parts and aftermarket support across Australia and New Zealand and portions of Southeast Asia from Transpacific Industries Group Limited. The business will continue to be managed by the existing management team.

The purchase price of approximately $200 million includes target working capital of approximately $67 million inclusive of vehicle inventory, parts, and other assets, and is subject to a closing adjustment that is expected to be finalized in the third quarter. 

The purchase price was financed using available cash flow from operations and availability under the company's credit and floorplan financing facilities. The Commercial Vehicle Group is expected to generate approximately $420 to $460 million in estimated annual revenues for Penske Automotive Group.  Penske Automotive expects to incur approximately $0.02 per share in acquisition-related costs in its third quarter 2013 results. On a proforma basis, the acquisition is expected to be $0.10 to $0.14 accretive per fully diluted share on an annualized basis, excluding acquisition-related costs.

The Commercial Vehicle Group primarily distributes heavy and medium-duty trucks for Western Star, Man Truck and Bus and Dennis Eagle through a network of over 80 independent dealers while serving customers across a number of industries, including on-highway, logistics, construction, mining, manufacturing, agricultural and waste/refuse collection. 

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The Western Star truck brand, an affiliate of Daimler Trucks North America, is a top-three Australian heavy-duty truck brand and holds a leading position in key market segments. The Man Truck and Bus brand is majority-owned by Volkswagen AG and is within the top six suppliers to the Australian bus market, and Dennis Eagle is a growing brand within the specialist refuse collection vehicle market.

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