plus 3, Sonic Automotive Announces Pricing of $210 Million of Senior Subordinated Notes - Redorbit.com

Sonic Automotive Announces Pricing of $210 Million of Senior Subordinated Notes - Redorbit.com
Asbury Automotive Group to Present at Upcoming Bank of America Merrill ... - Businesswire.com
Study: 'Cash for clunkers' a success - Detroit News
China shares flat as fears of rate hike ease - Yahoo Finance

Sonic Automotive Announces Pricing of $210 Million of Senior Subordinated Notes - Redorbit.com

Posted: 10 Mar 2010 06:00 AM PST

Posted on: Wednesday, 10 March 2010, 08:04 CST

CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE: SAH) today announced the pricing of its private offering of $210 million in aggregate principal amount of 9.0% Senior Subordinated Notes due 2018 to qualified institutional buyers pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933 and in offshore transactions pursuant to Regulation S under the Securities Act. The notes will be guaranteed by all of the Company's operative domestic subsidiaries. The notes were priced at 99.299% of par, resulting in a yield to maturity of 9.125%. This offering is expected to close on March 12, 2010, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of customary closing conditions. The net proceeds of this offering will be used to redeem a portion of the Company's 8 5/8% Senior Subordinated Notes due 2013.

The notes and the related guarantees have not been registered under the Securities Act or applicable state securities laws and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws.

This press release is being issued pursuant to Rule 135c under the Securities Act, and is neither an offer to sell nor a solicitation of an offer to buy the notes or any other securities and shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a sale of, the notes or any other securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. In addition, this press release shall not be deemed a notice of redemption for the Company's 8 5/8% Senior Subordinated Notes due 2013.

About Sonic Automotive

Sonic Automotive, Inc., a Fortune 300 company based in Charlotte, N.C., is the nation's third-largest automotive retailer, operating 145 franchises. Sonic can be reached on the web at www.sonicautomotive.com.

Included herein are forward-looking statements, including statements pertaining to the closing of the private offering of 9.0% Senior Subordinated Notes due 2018. There are many factors that affect management's views about future events and trends of the Company's business. These factors involve risk and uncertainties that could cause actual results or trends to differ materially from management's view, including without limitation, economic conditions, risks associated with acquisitions and the risk factors described in the Company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2009. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking information.

SOURCE Sonic Automotive, Inc.

Source: PR Newswire

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Asbury Automotive Group to Present at Upcoming Bank of America Merrill ... - Businesswire.com

Posted: 08 Mar 2010 10:59 PM PST

DULUTH, Ga.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE: ABG), one of the largest automotive retail and service companies in the U.S., today announced that its Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Craig T. Monaghan, will present at the upcoming Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2010 Consumer Conference in New York at 11:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on March 11, 2010.

A live audio webcast will be available at: https://www.veracast.com/webcasts/bas/consumer2010/id26561980.cfm

Presentation slides will be available on the Company's Investor Relations website at: http://www.asburyauto.com

About Asbury Automotive Group

Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. ("Asbury"), headquartered in Duluth, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, is one of the largest automotive retailers in the U.S. Built through a combination of organic growth and a series of strategic acquisitions, Asbury currently operates 81 retail auto stores, encompassing 108 franchises for the sale and servicing of 38 different brands of American, European and Asian automobiles. Asbury offers customers an extensive range of automotive products and services, including new and used vehicle sales and related financing and insurance, vehicle maintenance and repair services, replacement parts and service contracts.

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Study: 'Cash for clunkers' a success - Detroit News

Posted: 10 Mar 2010 08:09 AM PST

More vehicles sold as result of program than formerly thought

The Detroit News

Last year's "cash for clunkers" incentives program stoked demand for cars and trucks without pulling sales forward, according to a study by the Maritz Automotive Research Group.

"Our findings not only provide strong evidence that many more vehicles were sold as a direct result of the incentive program than were previously estimated, but they also largely debunk the myth that 'cash for clunkers' mortgaged future car and truck sales," said Dave Fish, vice president, Maritz Automotive Research Group.

"In fact, the program resulted in sales of vehicles to people who don't normally buy them."

Toledo-based Maritz surveyed nearly 36,000 consumers who bought a new car or truck between July and August 2009, when the Car Allowance Rebate System was in effect.

It concluded that the "cash for clunkers" program generated 542,000 incremental new car or truck sales, meaning that those buyers and lessees would not have been in the market without the lure of the incentive program.

Experts previously estimated that incremental sales generated by the program ranged between 125,000 and 346,000 vehicles.

According to Maritz' survey, half of all trade-ins were more than 10 years old and had more than 100,000 miles.

It said older vehicles such as these only averaged 15.8 miles per gallon and were replaced with vehicles averaging 24.9 miles per gallon, citing data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The Maritz study concluded that the program didn't pull sales forward. Although sales dipped in September when the program ended, partly due to depleted dealer inventory, the annual selling rate from October to December was higher than in the months preceding the "cash for clunkers" program.

Previous studies have shown the "cash for clunkers" program created tens of thousands of jobs.

According to a NHTSA report, the program created or saved nearly 60,000 jobs.

The Ann Arbor-based Center for Automotive Research has said 40,200 new jobs were created, including about 11,000 in Michigan and Ohio alone.

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China shares flat as fears of rate hike ease - Yahoo Finance

Posted: 11 Mar 2010 12:01 AM PST

SHANGHAI (AP) -- Chinese shares ended nearly flat Thursday as fears of a possible interest rate hike eased, led by heavyweight bank and oil shares.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index edged up 2.36 points, or 0.1 percent, to close at 3,051.282, while the Shenzhen Composite Index for China's smaller second exchange slipped 0.1 percent to 1,163.46.

Investors concluded February inflation reported Thursday was not high enough to trigger a rate hike, analysts said. That helped to quell unease that Beijing might tighten credit after China's legislature closes its annual session this week.

"The fading fear of interest rates hike slightly outweighed market concerns over more credit-tightening policies, and that gave blue chips a push," said Lin Feng, an investment manager for Sinolink Securities in the western city of Chengdu.

Bank shares rose after mobile phone carrier China Mobile Ltd. announced it bought 20 percent of midsize lender Pudong Development Bank Ltd.

Pudong Development gained 2.8 percent to 21.31 yuan. Bank of China Ltd. added 0.5 percent to 4.17 yuan, while Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., China's biggest commercial lender added 0.4 percent to 4.9 yuan.

Oil shares rose on hopes the government will soon raise fuel prices. China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. ,known as Sinopec, gained 2.1 percent to 11.5 yuan, while PetroChina Ltd., Asia's biggest oil and gas producer, ended up 0.8 percent at 12.95 yuan.

Auto producers were still in the doldrums following this week's report that February auto sales showed the slowest growth in eight months.

SAIC Motor Co., the local partner of General Motors Co. and Volkswagen AG, dropped 2.9 percent to 20.51 yuan. Chongqing Changan Automobile Co., a partner of Ford Motor Co. , ended down 2.6 percent at 12.56 yuan.

In currency markets, the yuan weakened to 6.8263 to the U.S. dollar, from Wednesday's close of 6.8262.

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