Legal Insights for 2025 Buy-Sell Landscape and How Dealerships Can Ready Themselves Counselor’s Corner With the start of 2025, industry analysts and experts alike have espoused the view, backed by policy assessments and data analysis, that with the Trump administration, dealers can expect “policy changes [that] could create a boom in buy-sell action.”1 Profitably forecasts along with dealership valuations, depending on the OEM brand, are predicted to rise in 2025 above post-pandemic levels with dealers looking to acquire the “most trusted brands” and “to divest of those [brands] they find more challenging.”2 So, what does an uptick in buy-sell activity mean for dealers considering the sale of their businesses? It means that now is the time to prepare to achieve your goals, whether those include ensuring the highest purchase offer, or preserving the dealership’s goodwill legacy in the community and with customers, or locking in job security and benefits for employees, or a combination of all of these. In fact, the following guidance incorporates certain best practices for long-term planning regardless of the sale date of the dealership. First, evaluate and manage the dealership’s expenses with an eye towards streamlining revenue sources and maximizing dealership profitability. Dealership financial statements, among other financial documents, will be reviewed by prospective buyers and it is fundamentally imperative that all financial information be current, truthful, accurate and transparent. Second, maintain and enhance the positive nature of the dealership’s goodwill and reputation within the community, with customers and employees, as well as with its OEM(s). Such preparation contributes to the overall market value of the business. These goals should be prioritized and ongoing. And before starting the buy-sell process, gather and organize all pertinent information and required documents. This includes (i) dealership financial operating statements, accounting reports and statements prepared by the dealership’s accountant, and any income adjustments; (ii) current OEM performance reports and requirements and sales and service agreements, including market area addenda; (iii) lists of dealership inventories, including fixed assets or depreciation schedule for fixed assets; (iv) copies of vendor contracts and leases, along with long-term or executory obligations, including the dealership’s dealer management JULIE CARDOSI, ESQ. LAW OFFICE OF JULIE A. CARDOSI, P.C. 10 Illinois Automobile Dealer News
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