LHM will continue its “philanthropic efforts” and “diversify”.

Starting out as an auto parts expert in the mid-1960s, the late businessman Larry H. Miller turned his love for all things automotive and a small stake in a suburban Toyota dealership into an empire. flourishing business and a stint as a prominent owner of Utah Jazz. .

The Larry H. Miller Group of Cos. on Wednesday announced it was pulling out of its decades-old bread and butter business with the sale of its six-state auto dealer network to Georgia-based Asbury Automotive Group for $ 3.2 billion.

Asbury will acquire Miller’s 54 new car dealers, seven used car dealers and 11 collision centers in Utah, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho and Washington. It is the eighth largest dealer group in the United States, with significant footprints in Georgia, Texas, Florida and several Midwestern states.

The $ 3.2 billion sale price includes $ 740 million for real estate in a deal expected to be reached later this year.

The sale will “elevate” the “ability of the LHM Group to continue to enrich lives through our philanthropic efforts,” said owner Gail Miller, “as well as to reinvest in new businesses.”

Larry H. Miller Group of Cos. CEO Steve Starks said the sale will provide “additional opportunities for LHM Group to diversify and further develop our portfolio of businesses and investments.”

He did not specify what the company’s plans are.

Larry H. Miller, who died in 2009, bought his first dealership – a Toyota franchise in Murray – in 1979 and built a business that includes sports, entertainment, finance, insurance and health care, in addition cars. He was best known as the former owner of the Utah Jazz NBA. He bought 50% of the team in 1985 and bought the remaining 50% in 1986 to prevent the team from moving to Minnesota.

The Miller family sold the team to Qualtrics co-founder Ryan Smith and his wife in 2020.

“Since our family purchased a single Utah dealership in 1979, we have been honored to cultivate a strong, values-based culture and customer-centric business model within the automotive industry during over four decades, ”said Gail Miller. “We feel a great sense of stewardship towards our incredible associates and their families, towards our loyal customers and partners and towards the communities in which we operate. “

Starks was appointed CEO of the LHM Group in the summer of 2019 and at the time signaled plans to move the portfolio of nearly 80 companies from the Sandy-based company. October 2020 saw the high-profile sale of the family’s controlling stake in Jazz and related assets, at an estimated selling price of $ 1.66 billion.

In early January, the LHM Group bought Advanced Health Care Corp., a private provider of nursing, home care and palliative care with centers in Utah and seven other predominantly western states.

Price was not disclosed in the transaction, which represented LHM Group’s first foray into the healthcare industry. Advanced Health Care operates 22 high-end patient care centers for a predominantly elderly clientele, including five on the Wasatch Front in Utah and one in St. George.

In April, the LHM Group purchased 1,300 undeveloped acres in Daybreak, the planned residential community in the western end of southern Jordan. The parties also did not share any monetary value on this deal with previous owner Värde Partners, a Minneapolis-based investment firm that acquired most of Daybreak from Kennecott’s parent company, Rio Tinto, in 2016.

According to Starks, employees in its automotive group “will have the opportunity to be part of Asbury, another respected and trusted brand, which brings a national footprint with a world-class technology platform.”

Asbury is a publicly traded company headquartered in Duluth, a northeast suburb of Atlanta, deriving 80% of its sales from imported brands. Its share price rose 1% to $ 203 on Wednesday after the deal was announced.

“Larry H. Miller Dealerships is one of the most respected auto dealer groups in the United States with a strong culture and stewardship mindset,” said David Hult, President and CEO of Asbury. “This acquisition is a unique opportunity to rapidly expand Asbury’s presence in these sought-after and high-growth Western markets.

The purchase aligns with the 91 dealerships Asbury has in the Midwestern and Southern states, building on its growing footprint in Colorado by adding the 12 LHM Group outlets and 42 more in the states of the ‘West, whose population is growing rapidly.

It also adds the 11 LHM Group crash repair centers to Asbury’s portfolio of 25.