News & Insights

Macpherson Kelley has acted for Melbourne-based Stillwell Motor Group in the $26 million sale of its Brighton Jaguar and Land Rover business and property to east coast luxury car dealer Autosports Group Ltd.

The Macpherson Kelley team was led by Principal Lawyer Terry Kokkinos who was assisted by Lawyer Chris Bevacqua. Principal Lawyer Sebastian Renato and Associate Justin Bellino acted on the property aspects of the deal.

Stillwell Motor Group had just completed a significant renovation to the Brighton property to create a new dealership and showroom when it was approached by Autosports.

Autosports said in a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange that acquiring Brighton Jaguar Land Rover would build on its recent acquisition of Sydney City Jaguar Land Rover business and was a strategic fit to its growth strategy.

“Autosports Group is delighted to secure another Jaguar Land Rover business and looks forward to strengthening its relationship with Jaguar Land Rover,” it said.

Macpherson Kelley prepared all documentation for the sale of the business and property, assisted with contract negotiations and managed the settlement process, which was complicated by Victoria’s five-day COVID-19 lockdown in February.

“Settlement was set and on track for Monday, 15 February but when Premier Daniel Andrews announced the recent ‘circuit breaker’ lockdown on the Friday before, we had to quickly come up with some commercial workarounds to complete the usual site stocktakes and final counts which were able to be achieved with the cooperation of the Stillwell and Autosports teams,” Terry said.

Coming up with alternatives to usual settlement procedures can change the risk profile on both sides, so being able to brainstorm ideas at short notice, execute and complete on time was a credit to all involved, he said.

Stillwell Motor Group is a family business established in 1949 by Bib Stillwell. The company operates BMW, Mini, Volvo and Volkswagen dealerships around Melbourne.

Autosports began in 2006 and has grown to over 40 retail dealerships throughout Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

The information contained in this article is general in nature and cannot be relied on as legal advice nor does it create an engagement. Please contact one of our lawyers listed above for advice about your specific situation.