Billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway said Thursday it has agreed to buy the Van Tuyl Group, the nation’s largest privately owned auto dealership.
Although the terms of the deal haven’t been disclosed, Kansas City, Mo.-based Van Tuyl’s 78 nationwide dealerships had $8 billion in revenues last year, suggesting a high price tag. As part of Buffett’s empire, the new company will be headquartered in Dallas and take the name Berkshire Hathaway Automotive. Larry Van Tuyl, son of the company’s founder and its CEO, will stay on as chairman while Jeff Rachor, hired as COO in 2010, takes over as CEO.
