Lithia plans sale of 4 million newly issued shares

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Lithia plans sale of 4 million newly issued shares Medford's Lithia Motors Inc. has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a public offering of 4 million newly issued shares of its common stock. The company simultaneously will offer an additional million shares owned by W. Douglas Moreland, a stockholder. That portion of the sale will produce no proceeds for Lithia. Moreland became a director of the company and regional vice president for the Intermountain Group in May 1999 when Lithia acquired Moreland Auto Group. He was promoted to senior vice president for regional operations in March 2000. With Lithia common stock trading recently at about $19 a share, the secondary offering is expected to yield gross proceeds of about $76 million. The company said it will use the proceeds to reduce borrowing under its lines of credit and to finance an accelerated program of acquiring automotive dealerships as well as for general corporate purposes. The offering is being managed by Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc. and Stephens Inc. Lithia owns 119 automotive franchises, representing 24 brands, in 63 dealerships in Western states. For the nine months ended Sept. 30, the company earned $15.6 million on net sales of $1.35 billion.   Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.