The Auto Channel
The Largest Independent Automotive Research Resource
The Largest Independent Automotive Research Resource
Official Website of the New Car Buyer

Hometown Auto Acquires Wellesley Lincoln/Mercury Solidifying Market

21 January 1999

Hometown Auto Acquires Wellesley Lincoln/Mercury Solidifying Market in Boston Metrowest Area

    WATERTOWN, Conn.--Jan. 20, 1999--Hometown Auto Retailers, Inc. (NASDAQ NM:HCAR) today announced that it has acquired Wellesley Lincoln/Mercury, formerly known as Regan & Stapleton, a dealership located 5 miles from Hometown's Bay States Lincoln/Mercury operation in the Boston suburbs. Based on sales in prior years, management of Hometown expects the dealership to add more than $10 million to overall sales. This acquisition gives Hometown Auto Retailers a dominant position in the Boston Metrowest area. The Company will maintain the existing site while eliminating substantial overhead and marketing costs.
    Joseph Shaker, President and Chief Operating Officer of Hometown Auto, said, "We are very pleased to announce the closing of this transaction. By acquiring Wellesley, Hometown gains complete control of the Boston Metrowest area. The acquisition allows Hometown to use shared management from Bay State, offers another premier location on Route 9 and additional synergies that will lower overhead. We expect to integrate the new location into the Hometown Auto system very quickly and take advantage of the shared overhead and advertising costs. Acquiring a dealership like this is a perfect way for us to expand our business. This operation is well-run and has an excellent reputation. With the closing of the GE Capital financing that we announced last week, we will be able to make many more acquisitions like this furthering our plan to become the dominant auto retailer in the Northeast."
    Hometown Auto Retailers, Inc. is engaged in the business of selling new and used cars and light trucks, providing maintenance and repair services, selling replacement parts and providing related financing, insurance and service contracts through eight franchised dealerships located in New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont. The Company's dealerships offer 12 American and Asian automotive brands, including Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Eagle, Ford, Isuzu, Jeep, Lincoln, Mercury, Oldsmobile, Plymouth and Toyota. The Company also operates a free-standing neighborhood collision repair center and is active in two "niche" segments of the automotive market: the sale of Lincoln Town Cars and limousines to livery car and livery fleet operators and the maintenance and repair of cars and trucks at a Ford and Lincoln Mercury factory authorized free-standing service center.
    This release contains "forward-looking statements" based on current expectations but involving known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual results or achievements may be materially different from those expressed or implied. The Company's plans and objectives are based on assumptions involving judgments with respect to future economic, competitive and market conditions, its ability to consummate, and the timing of, acquisitions and future business decisions, all of which are difficult or impossible to predict accurately and many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Therefore, there can be no assurance than any forward-looking statement will prove to be accurate.