Honolulu-based Servco Pacific Inc. is expanding its presence outside Hawai'i with plans to acquire a second automobile dealership in Australia.

The company said it reached an agreement to acquire a Toyota/Lexus dealership in Cairns, Australia. The dealership, Pacific Toyota, had been one of the top dealerships in Australia before it encountered economic difficulties and was placed into receivership in late 2008.

A purchase price was not disclosed.

Pacific Toyota will become a part of Servco's Australia operations, which started in December 2007 when Servco acquired a Toyota dealership in Brisbane.

Mark Fukunaga, Servco chairman and CEO, said the deals are part of a strategy to increase revenue and profitability for the company involved in sales of a wide variety of products from automobiles and appliances to garage doors and insurance.

"We believe that Toyota dealerships in Australia, if bought at the right price and managed well, will be a great source of future revenue, profitability and growth for Servco," he said.

Servco locally has been strained by the recession, and in November resorted to laying off 118 employees, or about 10 percent of its Hawai'i workforce. Most of the layoffs were made in Servco's automotive division.

The company is one of the state's 20 largest corporations, and traces its roots to 1919, with the opening of a two-car garage in Hale'iwa on O'ahu's North Shore by owner Peter Fukunaga.