Ugly Duckling Corporation Acquires Florida Dealerships and Finance Company Portfolio
PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 26, 1999--Ugly Duckling Corporation (NASDAQ NM: UGLY) announced today that it has closed the acquisition of certain assets of DCT of Ocala Corporation, a Florida based sub-prime automobile sales and finance company doing business under the name Best Chance. The assets acquired include four used car dealerships operating in the greater Orlando market area, vehicle inventory and a loan portfolio of approximately $15 million. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The acquisition brings to 66 the number of dealerships operated by Ugly Duckling, more than any "buy-here pay-here" dealership in the United States. Ugly Duckling currently operates 9 dealerships in the Tampa-St. Petersburg market. The Company also operates dealerships in Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, California, Texas and New Mexico.
Greg Sullivan, Ugly Duckling's President and Chief Executive Officer stated: "We are excited about this acquisition and our entry into the Orlando market, which we believe will be an excellent market for us. We expect these four dealerships and the loan portfolio will contribute immediately to our earning asset base and used car sales."
"This is our first acquisition of a multi-location dealer and portfolio in nearly two years," continued Mr. Sullivan. "Now that we have behind us our conversion to a single software system for our accounting, dealership and servicing activities, and have completed our Y2K software remediation and testing, we feel we are able to efficiently take on acquisition opportunities. As part of our growth strategy, we will continue to seek out additional strategic opportunities to expand our operations. |
