City Motor Holdings maps out MBO plan

City Motor Holdings is on course for a long-term restructure that will leave it with four Mercedes-Benz dealerships within three years.

Chairman Anthony Wickins says the board will then look out for “opportunities for expansion”.

Wickins’ son Mike is the group’s operations director, responsible for Mercedes outlets in Taunton, Exeter, Plymouth and Truro.

Derek Morgan, group operations director responsible for CMH’s franchised sites other than those representing Mercedes, will buy Citroën dealerships at Basingstoke and Newbury in an MBO. In a second MBO, Andrew Martin and Nick Crabtree will acquire Peugeot and Citroën sites at Chichester, and a Peugeot outlet at Horsham.

CMH was at No 61 in this year’s AM100, with an estimated turnover of £155m (down from £177m in 2006).

A year ago, CMH began to downsize, selling its Vauxhall Chichester outlet (to Frosts Motor Group) and its Peugeot Haslemere outlet, which is now empty. CMH and Kia agreed a “mutual separation” at a site at Basingstoke.

Since a sale-and-leaseback deal in 2004, much of CMH’s property has been owned by Deutsche Bank.