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Arnold Clark, the largest privately owned dealer group in the UK, is continuing its drive south into England from its heartland north of the border.
Ranked fourth in the Motor Trader Top 200, Arnold Clark has acquired Patterson Motor Group, based in Newcastle, which the Scottish group hopes will add around £250m to its turnover.
Three of the acquired dealerships are Ford
Patterson will bring one Seat and three Ford dealerships to Arnold Clark, and no redundancies are planned within the Newcastle company.
A good buy
Last year, Patterson’s turnover topped £250m, and the group was placed at number 84 in the Sunday Times HSBC Top Track 250 list of Britain’s mid-market firms.
Patterson’s managing director Ashley Winter and finance director Cliff Thornton plan to leave the firm in a few months, after acting as consultants during the transition.
Patterson was purchased for an undisclosed sum.
The last time Arnold Clark made such a move was in April 2007 when it opened a £10m car supermarket in the Midlands.