ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Volvo Construction Equipment last month announced the sale of LB Smith dealership operations in seven states to three companies.
Volvo sold its LB Smith dealership operations in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and eastern Tennessee to ASC Construction Equipment USA, based in Charlotte. The new dealership will serve its market area from 12 current LB Smith branch facilities: Raleigh, Charlotte and Asheville, N.C.; Columbia, S.C.; Atlanta, Augusta and Savannah, Ga.; Birmingham, Mobile and Montgomery, Ala.; and Knoxville and Chattanooga, Tenn.
ASC Construction is a subsidiary of Group Auto-Sueco Coimbra, an international company engaged in distribution, sales, rental and service of construction equipment and a major European Volvo dealer for nearly 50 years.
Volvo also signed an agreement with McClung-Logan Virginia LLC, a subsidiary of Baltimore-based McClung-Logan Equipment Co., to sell LB Smith's Virginia operations to McClung-Logan Virginia, a deal scheduled to close Dec. 31. McClung-Logan will serve the Virginia market from LB Smith locations in Glen Allen, in the Richmond area; Salem, in the Roanoke area; Chesapeake and Wise.
McClung-Logan Equipment Co. has been a dealer for Volvo construction equipment since 1983, with a customer base in Maryland, Delaware and northern Virginia.
Volvo also sold its Tallahassee, Fla., LB Smith operation to Flagler Construction Equipment, Maitland, Fla. Flagler became a Volvo dealer in April 2004 when it acquired the Florida territory including branches in Orlando, Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Fort Lauderdale and Tampa.
Volvo purchased the assets of the LB Smith dealership, its distributor for most of the East Coast, in May 2003, continuing the operations of its service and sales locations under the name LB Smith while negotiating the sale and divestment of its territories.
Volvo's initial sale of Florida market areas to Flagler was its first divestment of LB Smith dealerships.
Volvo has now divested 28 of the original 31 LB Smith locations, representing about 90 percent of its volume. The remaining three will be divested in the near future.
Volvo officials told RER that the acquired dealerships have all done well and enjoyed increased business this year, with the majority of the LB Smith employees continuing on with the new ownership groups.
