Marubeni Corporation - Expansion of Marubeni's Car Sales Business in the U.K. Acquisition of Shares in HPL Motors
January 27, 2023 at 07:54 am EST
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Marubeni Corporation ('Marubeni'), through Marubeni Auto Investment U.K. Limited ('MAIUK'), which operates a dealership business in Manchester and London, U.K., acquired 80% of shares of HPL Motors Limited ('HPLM'), a holding company of Heaton Park Garage Limited ('HPL'), which operates three used car specialty stores near Manchester.
Marubeni joined the car dealership business in the U.K. in 2000 and has expanded its operations to sell about 30,000 cars annually, both new and used. By acquiring the high creditworthiness and customer recognition that HPL has built up over the past 30 years since its establishment, as well as its platform for selling about 6,000 used cars per year, Marubeni aims to expand its business domain and establish a new revenue base.
The used car market in the U.K. is about four times the size of the new car market and is a non-exclusive market, which means that there is great potential for business expansion. MAIUK has been selling used cars, focusing on certified used cars (2-4 years old) of the nine brands* it already handles. By operating stores specializing in used cars, MAIUK intends to expand its customer base by eliminating restrictions on the brands it manages and expanding the age of the cars it handles to about seven years.
Through this acquisition, Marubeni will expand its used car sales business on a U.K.-wide scale with its acquired know-how at its core, and by combining this with its existing dealership business, it aims to promote the evolution and transformation of the car sales business in the U.K..
Marubeni Corporation is a diversified group organized primarily around 12 business segments:
- sale of agricultural products and related services (47% of net sales): sale of agricultural inputs (crop protection products, fertilizers, seeds, etc.), precision farming services, formulation of crop protection products, export of cereals and oilseeds, etc.;
- sale of food products (17.6%);
- production and distribution of oil, gas, alternative energy and electricity (10.4%);
- production of chemicals and petrochemicals (6.4%);
- production of metals and mineral resources (4.9%);
- sale and financing of industrial and construction machinery and equipment (4.6%). The group also develops car sales and tire distribution activities;
- sales of consumer electronics (4.3%). In addition, the group develops real estate development and management activities;
- sale of forest products (2.3%): wood chips and biomass fuel, pulp and waste paper, paper, paperboard, hygiene products, building & construction materials and wood products;
- sale of apparel, accessories, textile and lifestyle products (1.1%);
- management and operation of aircraft and ships (1%);
- development of energy production units and industrial installations (0.3%);
- finance and leasing (0.1%): auto finance, aircraft leasing, aircraft engine leasing, leasing and renting of refrigerated trailers, commercial vehicles and commercial freight railcars, etc.
Net sales are distributed geographically as follows: Japan (37.2%), the United States (42.5%)