Jacksons is sold to Van Mossel Automotive Group

The acquisition covers all six locations of Jacksons, in Guernsey, Jersey, the Isle of Man and the Isle of Wight. With sales of 250m. euros, Jersey-headquartered Jacksons is one of the largest dealer groups in the British Isles. Headquartered in Jersey, Jacksons Group, which includes Jacksons, Motor Mall and Esplanade, employs 500 staff.

The purchase is the second major one outside Benelux for Van Mossel, following the acquisition of German dealer group Hugo Pfohe.

‘I’m delighted to announce the agreement with Van Mossel,’ said Paul Collier, CEO of Jacksons.

‘We have been negotiating for a significant period of time and I’m confident that their investment and expertise will further enhance our performance and service offerings.

‘Van Mossel is a leading automotive group in Europe and a significant reinforcement of our operations. I look forward to working with them to future-proof the business on the islands.

‘All employees will be retained to facilitate the growth of this unique company. Moreover, the proven concept of Van Mossel allows us to offer our customers more services under one roof in the future. A win-win situation.’

Guernsey-based Bailiwick Investments has a stake in Jacksons as part of its portfolio of local businesses. At the end of 2022 it valued the business at more than £11m.

It said that during last year Jacksons had delivered an impressive performance, generating operating profits ahead of budget, and it paid dividends of £1m. back to Bailiwick during the year.

Bailiwick’s annual report noted that Jacksons had benefitted from continued high demand for cars since the pandemic restrictions eased and had reported a good start to 2023. It had performed particularly well in the Isle of Man, it said, bucking the trend for island residents to buy from the UK mainland.

Van Mossel Automotive Group has grown into the largest automotive company in the Benelux over the last 75 years. Annual sales are approximately 4.5bn euros. It has 5,200 employees and there are 349 branches in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France and Luxembourg.

The group includes dealerships of 34 car brands, while eight of the 29 brands sold by Jacksons are new to Van Mossel’s current portfolio, namely Aston Martin, Bentley, BMW, BMW Motorrad, Honda Motorbikes, Lexus, Mini, Porsche and Toyota.

Eric Berkhof, managing director of Van Mossel Automotive Group said: ‘The acquisition of the Jacksons Group is another step in the ongoing evolution of Van Mossel Automotive Group. Paul and the team have built a great business on the islands where they operate. We believe that we can further enhance it by investing more in facilities and product offerings, so that island customers can benefit from competitive offerings within the automotive sector.’

The transaction has been submitted to the Jersey Competition Regulatory Authority and is expected to be completed by the end of July.