6 car dealerships here reported sold

By Kelly Yamanouchi
Advertiser Staff Writer

Possibly ending months of speculation, six car dealerships in Hawai'i have been sold to two Mainland automobile executives for about $100 million, according to a report in a Charleston, S.C., newspaper.

Charleston, S.C., automobile executive Gene Reed told The Post and Courier in Charleston that he and Fletcher Jones, a large auto dealership based in Newport Beach, Calif., bought the dealerships from Jardine Holding Co. of Hong Kong on Friday.

Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd. is the parent company of Theo H. Davies & Co. Ltd. The sale reportedly includes Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, Land Rover, Porsche and two Honda dealerships in Hawai'i.

Reed said most of the personnel at the dealerships will stay on, but a few managerial changes may be made, according to the Charleston newspaper.

Reed told the newspaper he and Jones formed an equal partnership called Jones-Reed LLC to carry out the purchase. Reed said the deal makes Jones-Reed the biggest Mercedes dealer in Hawai'i.

Neil McNamara, a spokesman for Jardine in Hong Kong, would not confirm the sale yesterday.

"We don't as a group comment on speculative reports. If we entered into transactions we would expect to announce them ourselves," McNamara said.

Theo Davies officials could not be reached for comment late yesterday afternoon.

Jardine is also reported to be putting other Theo Davies assets up for sale, including 50 Pizza Hut and 30 Taco Bell restaurants in Hawai'i, Guam and Saipan, as well as Pacific Machinery, a Caterpillar dealership and heavy equipment distributor.

Theo Davies was incorporated in 1884 and was one of the Big Five businesses that dominated Hawai'i's economy in the plantation era. The sale could further break up one of Hawai'i's largest companies, which Jardine bought in 1973.

Reach Kelly Yamanouchi at 535-2470 or kyamanouchi@honoluluadvertiser.com.