LOOKERS, the Manchester motor company in which Woodchester has a 29 per cent share holding, has bought Baird Cars of Belfast for about £2.7 million sterling.

Lookers acquired the business through its Belfast subsidiary, Charles Hurst, Northern Ireland's largest motor dealer. Lookers bought Charles Hurst at the beginning of the year for £25 million, a multiple of 11 times earnings.

Baird, which holds the Peugeot franchise in Northern Ireland, is located directly opposite the Charles Hurst Motor Village site. Lookers has exchanged contracts to resell the Baird site for approximately £1.8 million.

The Peugeot marque accounted for just under 8 per cent of car sales in Northern Ireland in the eight months to end August. This franchise will now be transferred to Hurst which was considering the acquisition of Baird before it was taken over by Lookers.

The UK company is paying £2 million for the property and goodwill and about £0.7 million for the net current assets of Baird at the close of business on September 30th.

As one of two businesses to arise out of the demerger of AS Baird in May, Baird Cars has been trading separately for only five months. For this reason separate audited accounts are not available.

But unaudited management accounts for the four months from May 1st, which excludes the peak selling period of January and March, show profits of £18,000, according to Lookers. The Peugeot section of the AS Baird business recorded average annual unaudited operating profits of £335,000 for the previous four years, Lookers said.

The acquisition will enhance sales at Hurst in the short term and will lead to economies of scale in the longer term according to Lookers.