Dave Cantin Group Completes ‘Hat Trick’: Ghreiwati Auto Group Acquires Hello Auto’s Kia Valencia Store, the Third Hello Auto Sale in March
New York — March 31, 2026 — The Dave Cantin Group (DCG), a leading automotive mergers and acquisitions advisory company, today announced it was the exclusive representative for Ghreiwati Auto Group in its acquisition of Hello Auto Group’s Kia store in Valencia, California. The transaction marks the third Hello sale revived by DCG after an earlier effort led by its sell-side broker stalled. DCG’s efforts ultimately delivered an approximately 30% higher transaction price for the company’s Valencia stores and a full slate of satisfied dealer owners.
- Ghreiwati Auto Group purchased Hello Auto’s Kia store in Valencia on March 30. The store has been rebranded Kia of Valencia.
As previously announced:
- Ghreiwati acquired the Hello Mazda of Valencia store in a deal that closed March 17. That store has been rebranded Mazda of Valencia.
- Chris Hemmersmeier, President and CEO of Jerry Seiner Dealerships acquired Hello Subaru of Valencia in a deal that closed on March 16. That store is now Jerry Seiner Subaru.
In all three cases, Hello Auto Group was unable to reach definitive agreements with buyers introduced by its sell-side broker of record. Hello founder and President Karl Schmidt turned to his longtime trusting relationship with DCG Managing Director Alex Covino. Covino, with extensive market knowledge and deep connections in this region, quickly identified Ghreiwati as an ideal buyer for Hello’s Valencia stores.
Ghreiwati is expanding its retail presence in Southern California.
“Alex understands my personal vision for our auto group,” said founder and CEO Sam Ghreiwati. “So, when the opportunity arose, it made sense that Alex called me. Alex and his team exceeded my expectations. I can’t recommend him and the Dave Cantin Group team highly enough.”
DCG was the exclusive buy-side advisor for all three transactions.
The DCG team is known for its long-term advisory outlook, strong ethics, deep industry and market knowledge, proprietary real-time data, and established professional network.
Over the years, I’ve shared our growth plans and very specific investment criteria with Alex. He leaned in and took the time to truly understand our organization and my personal vision for the group. So, when the opportunity arose, and he was given the chance to make one call on the opportunity, he called me, and we negotiated a deal in short order. Alex and his team were relentless from start to finish. They exceeded my expectations I can’t recommend him and his Dave Cantin Group team enough.
Sam Ghreiwati
Ghreiwati Auto Group
About Dave Cantin Group
Dave Cantin Group is a leading automotive M&A advisory firm specializing in acquisitions, divestitures, platform management, business evaluations, and other corporate development services. The new retail reality requires automotive dealers to seek DCG’s collective best thinking, deep experience and extensive industry relationships to effectively leverage M&A as a core business strategy.
Clients choose DCG because we are a trusted advisor focusing on long-term relationships, investing in data and research, and engaging our entire team on every client project. Clients benefit from our industry-leading market intelligence – our Market Outlook Report – and JumpIQ, our proprietary AI-enabled platform delivering unprecedented visibility into automotive retail.
Our nonprofit initiative, DCG Giving, funds child and adolescent cancer research and treatment across the United States and supports other charitable causes important to the automotive retail community. To learn more, visit davecantingroup.com.
Brian Traugott
Brian Gordon
Tony Karabon
Alex Covino
