NASHVILLE, Tenn., and OCALA, Fla., Aug. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --Acacia Automotive, Inc. (Ticker-ACCA) today announced that it acquired theassets of Augusta Auto Auction on July 10th. The terms of the transactionwere not immediately disclosed. Acacia commenced operation of the auctionwith its first sale on Wednesday, July 11th, closely following thecompletion of its first offering of Common shares in June. The companycompleted that initial capital raise of $1,025,000 in line with its goalsfor that offering. "Our first order of business is to revitalize the temporary facility sothat everyone will know the auction is under new ownership and direction"said Tony Moorby, the company's President and Chief Operating Officer. "Welaunched our new operation with a major renovation project that willcontinue through mid-August. It is absolutely imperative that our dealerclients see Acacia as professional and dedicated to quality in every way.Augusta is a fantastic community that literally exudes potential, and weare thrilled to become one of its integral parts." In addition to sweeping cosmetic changes, the company is preparing toacquire a list of new assets to bring the auction up to date with thelatest technology. "We will be installing equipment to facilitate a'paperless block' in our auction lanes in addition to moving from the oldstandards to installing many other innovative improvements" explained Steve"Junior" Sample, the company's CEO. "We will provide Tony with everythinghe wants and needs to accommodate his transformation of this sleepy auctioninto a vibrant part of the Augusta community and surrounding areas.Acceptance of our efforts by the dealer community has already beenwidespread, and we are finding new clients gravitating to the auctionweekly. It is a very exciting time for everyone at Acacia Automotive!" Moorby continued: "We are elated at the early results under our newmanagement and direction. Whilst we have given our top priority and effortto the major renovation task, we did initiate a small test to see whateffect some additional marketing may have on sales. In preparation for ourthird sale we effected two days of telemarketing while I also joined ourGeneral Manager, Dan Dorsey, in visiting with some local dealers one daythat week. The results were absolutely amazing! We entered more vehicles inthat sale than had been entered any week during the prior four years, andwe maintained a very respectable conversion rate of nearly 64%. We now knowthat our visions of this auction's future were well-founded, and we canhardly wait to complete the auction's facelift and move into a full-courtmarketing and sales presence." In a year-over-year comparison of the auction operations for the lastthree weeks of July 2006 versus 2007 (reflecting the initial period ofAcacia's ownership of the auction), the company registered an increase of35.03% in the number of vehicles registered and 26.50% in vehicles sold, aswell as an increase of 29.99% in fees generated. Acacia's management iswell- pleased with those results, acknowledging that "the sky is thelimit". The company anticipates moving its headquarters to Nashville,Tennessee, in late August in order to be more centrally located and tobetter accommodate commerce throughout the United States. About Acacia Automotive, Inc. Acacia Automotive
Acacia Automotive Announces Acquisition of Augusta Auto Auction
August 08, 2007, 1:15 a.m. EDT 3 Min Read
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