Ray Brandt estate to sell auto dealership empire, ending lengthy, bitter family dispute

The estate of the late New Orleans auto mogul Ray Brandt is close to completing the sale of 14 car dealerships and five collision centers in Louisiana and Mississippi, which make up the bulk of his estimated $300 million fortune.

The sale of the automotive group would close a chapter in the lengthy, bitter dispute over Brandt’s succession, which pitted his widow Jessica against her grandchildren, Alexis and Zachary Hartline, whom Ray Brandt had adopted. The parties agreed to a settlement last March, more than three years after Brandt’s death at 72 from cancer. The terms have not been disclosed.

The deal to sell the car group was agreed to in principle in summer 2023 and will split the dealerships between Saints owner Gayle Benson’s Benson Automotive Group and Troy Duhon’s Premier Automotive, according to several people with knowledge of the transaction.

The sale of the dealerships requires the assent of each of the car manufacturers involved. The deal isn’t expected to be completed until around March, assuming the carmakers all agree.

Benson Group and Duhon officials declined to comment. The Brandt estate’s trustee, Marc Milano, didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Deal terms

Under the terms of the deal, the Benson group would get the Toyota dealership on Veterans Memorial Boulevard in Kenner, as well as the Mercedes-Benz dealership in D’Iberville, Mississippi, and the Porsche dealership in Metairie.

The Infiniti and Nissan dealerships would also go to Benson, according to four people with knowledge of the deal who couldn’t speak publicly because of confidentiality agreements.

Troy Duhon’s group would take over the other dealerships, which include two Volkswagen outlets, one in D’Iberville and the other in Harvey, Louisiana. Duhon would also get the Chevrolet dealership in Biloxi, Mississippi, and the Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram and Kia dealerships in Harvey.

The entire dealership and service shop network is estimated to be worth about $170 to $180 million. The real estate associated with the auto group is valued at more than $100 million and the buyers will initially lease the properties and have the option to purchase after five years, according to the sources.

The full valuation of the real estate is yet to be finalized and will depend on official appraisals.

It started with Datsun

The decision to sell the Brandt car group was seen by the parties as the best way to wrap up the succession, according to one official involved.

“Jessica and the other heirs have been looking to part ways and converting illiquid assets into cash is an easy way to do that,” said the person.

Ray Brandt started as a car salesman in the 1960s and built up his empire from a single Datsun dealership on the west bank. His name became a fixture in the greater New Orleans area through ubiquitous advertising and promotion of his growing number of car brands.

Jessica Brandt worked with Ray Brandt for years before they wed, and she ultimately took over as CEO after his death. However, she failed to win a court fight to overturn a will — drawn up and signed by Ray Brandt weeks before he died — that stripped her of control over the estate.

Car dealership franchises can be lucrative businesses, though valuations of different brands vary widely.

The average annual earnings for a U.S. car dealership was $6.5 million in 2022, according to The Haig Report, which tracks data from publicly-traded auto dealership groups. Earnings in 2021 and 2022 soared compared to the previous five years, when they averaged between $2 million and $3 million a year.

When a dealership franchise owner wants to sell, the car manufacturer has a “right of first refusal” and has 60 to 120 days to decide if they want to buy the franchise themselves at the agreed price. The carmakers can also decide they would prefer the franchise be sold to an alternative buyer.

March closing

“All of the due diligence has been done and it is scheduled to close early-to-mid-March,” said one of the parties with knowledge of the deal. “But there is an option to get out if there isn’t agreement to sell all of the dealerships at the same time. There is a lot that could blow this thing up, but so far so good.”

Apart from the car dealerships, the Brandt estate’s other assets included real estate and Pascal’s Manale Restaurant. The restaurant was sold last year to the Dickie Brennan group for $3.85 million.

If the Brandt auto group deal goes through, it would expand the Benson group’s dealership holdings considerably.

Though the Benson auto group once had 30 dealerships, those in Texas were sold off after Tom Benson’s death in 2018. Currently, Benson has two Mercedes-Benz dealerships, one on Poydras Street in New Orleans and one on Veterans Memorial Boulevard in Metairie. There is also a Cadillac dealership in Metairie and a Chevrolet dealership in Kenner.

Duhon’s group already is large and consists of dozens of operations across eight states, including 9 dealerships and collision centers in Louisiana.