EDMONTON, Nov. 5, 2014 /CNW/ - AutoCanada Inc. ("AutoCanada") (TSX: ACQ) today announced that it has obtained approval from BMW Canada Inc. ("BMW Canada") to purchase an eighty-five percent interest in the assets (including land and building) of Auto Boulevard St. Martin Inc. ("Auto Boulevard") which owns and operates BMW Laval and MINI Laval, two dealerships located in Laval, Quebec. The dealerships currently operate from a 134,566 square foot owned facility which include a 50 car BMW showroom, a 15 car MINI showroom, a 48 bay BMW service centre, a 14 bay MINI service centre and a 16 bay body shop. In 2013, the franchises retailed a combined 2,208 new vehicles (including 1,661 new BMWs) and 680 used vehicles (including 554 BMWs). The expected closing date for the transaction is November 27, 2014. As part of the transaction, AutoCanada will be entering into an agreement with Mr. Carmine D'Argenio, the current majority owner of Auto Boulevard whereby Mr. D'Argenio will retain the remaining ownership interest in the two Laval dealerships as well as acquire a fifteen percent ownership interest in BMW Canbec and MINI Mont Royal from AutoCanada as part of the transaction.  Mr. D'Argenio shall as well oversee operations of these four premier dealerships.

Commenting on the transaction, Patrick Priestner, Chairman and CEO of AutoCanada stated, "We are extremely fortunate to be partnering with Mr. Carmine D'Argenio, whose knowledge and experience with the prestigious and premium BMW and MINI brands in Canada is of the first order, and will be of great benefit to our BMW and Mini dealership operations and our current strong Canbec BMW dealership management team led by Mr. Charles Dubé.  We would like to thank BMW Canada and its employees for all of their hard work and assistance with this transaction, and we look forward to providing our BMW and MINI customers with the customer service experience that these two legendary brands demand."

About AutoCanada

AutoCanada is one of Canada's largest multi-location automobile dealership groups, currently operating 46 franchised dealerships in eight provinces and has over 3,600 employees. AutoCanada currently sells Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, FIAT, Chevrolet, GMC, Buick, Cadillac, Infiniti, Nissan, Hyundai, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Audi, Volkswagen, Kia, BMW and MINI branded vehicles. In 2013, our dealerships sold approximately 36,000 vehicles and processed approximately 364,000 service and collision repair orders in our 406 service bays during that time.

Additional information about AutoCanada Inc. is available at www.sedar.com and the Company's website at www.autocan.ca.

SOURCE AutoCanada Inc.