LMP Automotive sells last franchised dealerships

LMP on June 13 also sold Beckley Buick-GMC Auto Mall in Beckley, W.Va., to Dutch Miller Auto Group, according to Chris Miller, that group’s president. The store was renamed Dutch Miller’s Beckley Auto Mall, Miller said. Beckley is southeast of Charleston.

“That is a market that we really do want to be in,” Miller said. “We are a West Virginia-based company. We want to continue to invest inside of West Virginia. Any opportunity that we can find inside of the state, we are very, very interested.”

It marks Dutch Miller’s first acquisition since it bought a Buick-GMC store in Kansas last July, according to Miller, who said he is running for governor in West Virginia.

Barton said his group and Dutch Miller Auto acquired and closed one used-vehicle dealership each from LMP in the transactions. Barton said Stephens’ used-vehicle store is in Summersville, W.Va., while Miller’s is in Lewisburg, W.Va.

While LMP CEO Samer Tawfik did not respond to requests for comment, Barton confirmed the Chevrolet and Buick-GMC stores were all of LMP’s remaining franchised dealerships.

It’s unclear what happens next to LMP, which had eight franchised dealerships at its height. All told, the company spent a little over 27 months as a franchised dealership owner.

LMP said in August that it would voluntarily delist its common stock from the Nasdaq, and its shares are traded over the counter.

LMP’s grand plans to acquire 80 to 100 dealerships by the end of 2022 never came close to materializing, especially after numerous challenges obtaining financing and closing deals.

In August, LMP’s board of directors unanimously recommended that stockholders approve a plan to liquidate and dissolve the company.

LMP then revealed it had reached an agreement to sell four West Virginia dealerships, including King Coal Chevrolet and Beckley Buick-GMC Auto Mall and two Florida Kia dealerships, to Atlantic Coast Automotive Group. However, in October, LMP said that deal had been terminated by the buyer.