Berkshire Hathaway to buy Van Tuyl automotive group

The sprawling automobile business begun by the late Cecil Van Tuyl with a single Kansas City Chevrolet dealership in 1955 is being acquired by Berkshire Hathaway Inc., led by legendary investor Warren Buffett.

Berkshire Hathaway on Thursday announced an agreement to buy the auto dealership businesses of the Van Tuyl Group for an undisclosed price.

Van Tuyl generates more than $8 billion in sales from its 78 independently operated dealerships and 100 franchises across 10 states, including Missouri. The group, based in Phoenix, sold its large Kansas City dealership business in 1992.

Cecil Van Tuyl died in 2012 at 85 years old. His son, Larry, joined the auto business in 1971 and is still part of its management. He could not be reached for comment.

The Van Tuyl family, through VanTrust Real Estate, also is one of the largest real estate developers in the Kansas City area. VanTrust’s local development roster includes a proposed development on the east side of downtown, and such major apartment projects as Mission Farms in Overland Park and a development at 51st and Main streets in Kansas City.

VanTrust also completed the Plaza Vista office project for the Polsinelli law firm and built new headquarters for AMC Entertainment Inc. and Freightquote.com Inc.

Berkshire’s announcement said it will use the Van Tuyl Group automotive operation to build a larger automotive business. Berkshire Hathaway Automotive, as it will be called, will be based in Dallas.

“We’ve gone a long time without getting into automobiles, but Larry’s got an operation that we think could be scaled up a lot from where it is,” Buffett said on CNBC.

Berkshire owns Helzberg Diamonds, based in North Kansas City, and the Omaha-based Nebraska Furniture Mart, which has a large store near the Kansas Speedway in western Wyandotte County. The company’s shares are among the most expensive on the New York Stock Exchange.

Management of Van Tuyl Group includes Jeff Rachor, who will retain “a financial interest” in all of the dealerships involved in the sale, the announcement said.

The companies did not disclose terms but dealership broker Alan Haig told Bloomberg News that Van Tuyl Group likely would be worth more than $1.8 billion but less than $3.7 billion, based on the value of publicly traded dealership groups.

Berkshire expects to complete the deal early next year, after receiving approval from automakers and some regulatory bodies.

This story was originally published October 2, 2014 at 10:08 AM with the headline "Berkshire Hathaway to buy Van Tuyl automotive group."