The sale is expected to be completed in late January. Germain operates nine dealerships in the Columbus area; four in Ann Arbor, Michigan; two in Naples, Florida; and one in Sarasota.
Superior Auto Cincinnati, which operates Hyundai, Acura, Kia and Honda dealerships in the Cincinnati-area market, has closed on its purchase of Hidy Hyundai in Beavercreek and is scheduled to close Jan. 5 on the Hidy Acura dealership in Centerville, according to Hidy and Steve Massie of Superior Auto.
Terms of the sale and the sale agreements were not disclosed.
“Now is the right time,” Hidy said of his family’s decision to sell the dealerships owned by his father Dave Hidy and himself. The car business “is back to what it was” before the recession, he said.
The Hidy family of dealerships has 225 employees, and Hidy said those employees, as well as his dealership’s customers, will be in good hands under the new owners.
Hidy said Superior and its ownership under the Betagole family — which opened the first Hyundai dealership in the state in the late 1980s — were “a good fit” for Hidy’s Hyundai and Acura dealerships. And he said he approached Steve Germain about buying Hidy’s Honda and Ford dealerships because of Germain’s strong reputation in the industry.
While he said he couldn’t speak on the new owners’ behalf, Hidy said, “It’s my understanding that 90-plus percent of our dealerships’ employees will be retained if they choose to stay. And it’s part of the deal that customers are going to be well-taken-care-of. Those two things are very important to me.”
Calls to Germain were directed to John Malishenko, operations director for Germain Motor Co. Malishenko could not be reached for comment Monday or this morning. Superior’s Steve Massie confirmed the sales via email but could not be reached for additional comment this morning.
The Hidy family of dealerships started with a Honda dealership in Xenia in 1975. The Ford, Acura and Hyundai dealerships were added within the last decade.
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