Imperial Holdings's wholly-owned vehicle division, Motus Corporation (Motus), has indirectly acquired 100% of Pentagon Motor Holdings.

Headquartered in Derbyshire, Pentagon operates 21 retail car and light commercials vehicle dealerships in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire and Greater Manchester. 

Pentagon was established in 1991 by its current chairman,Trevor Reeve, and has grown from an initial Vauxhall franchise base to represent manufacturers Peugeot, Seat, Mazda, Citroen, Kia, Renault, Nissan, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Jeep and Mitsubishi.

The group employs 1,262 people.

Mark Lamberti, group chief executive officer of Imperial, said: “Imperial has strong global partnerships with leading vehicle manufacturers and we are delighted to expand our international retail footprint into the passenger and light commercial vehicle market in the UK through the acquisition of Pentagon.”

Osman Arbee, chief executive officer of Motus added:  “This acquisition is consistent with Motus strategy to deploy capital and its vehicle retail expertise in pursuit of growth and return beyond South Africa.

"Pentagon is a well-respected and established vehicle dealership group with deep expertise and a strong national reputation in the passenger vehicle sector.

"It will complement our existing commercial vehicle business in the UK which has produced commendable results since its acquisition in 2006.”

Key management will remain with Pentagon through a transitional period.

The business will continue to operate as Pentagon Motor Holdings.