Inchcape UK, already sells Toyota, Lexus, Peugeot and Audi cars in Russia, and the new acquisition will enable the British company to increase its stake on the country's car dealership market, estimated at $41-44 billion, to 3%, Kommersant said.
A source close to Musa Motors' owner Boris Teterev told the newspaper that Teterev and Inchcape had already signed a memo of intentions. However, an Inchcape official refused on Friday to comment on the potential deal, while Tatyana Zhilina, director for marketing and PR at Musa Motors, has neither confirmed nor denied the reports.
Inchcape is Britain's oldest and largest car retailer, with scale operations in Australia, Belgium, Greece, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Inchcape's core brand partners are Audi, BMW, Honda, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, PAG, Subaru, Toyota/Lexus and Volkswagen, the company says on its website.
Established in 1992, Musa Motors Holding incorporates Musa Motors, an official dealer for Volvo, Land Rover, Jaguar, Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge and Renault cars, TC Motors, an exclusive importer of Chrysler & Jeep in Latvia, BorisHof, an official dealer for BMW and Mini cars, and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Moscow. Market players said that the holding's turnover stood at around $550-600 million last year.
