Buyer Panel
Mark Iuppenlatz is the Vice President of Corporate Development for Group 1 Automotive, Inc., an NYSE traded company focused on the automotive retail business. Revenues at GPI exceed $9 billion and the company has approximately 10,000 employees. Mr. Iuppenlatz manages the international business mergers/acquisitions group, the construction department ($120 million in annual construction spend), real estate department (portfolio of over $1.5 billion in assets), and the purchasing department.
George Karolis serves as Asbury Automotive Group’s Vice President of Corporate Development and Real Estate, and is responsible for acquisitions and divestitures, managing the company’s real estate portfolio, construction projects, purchasing, and other strategic initiatives. Mr. Karolis joined Asbury in 2000. Mr. Karolis graduated from Seton Hall University and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Raul Rodriguez has led the valuation, negotiation, due diligence, and integration of over 100 acquisition and divestiture transactions. For AutoNation, Inc., Mr. Rodriguez leads the mergers and acquisitions efforts for the largest automotive retailer in the United States. Since his arrival in 2012, AutoNation has acquired or announced acquisitions of 40 stores generating $3.1 billion in annual revenue. Mr. Rodriguez earned his Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Master of Science in Accounting at Florida International University. He is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the State of Florida.
Franklin McLarty is the founding executive and the current CEO of RML Automotive Holdings (“RML”), the nation’s 19th largest automotive dealership group according to Automotive News. Since joining RML’s predecessor firm, McLarty-Landers LLC in 2005, McLarty has been directly involved in all aspects of the company’s growth into one of the country’s largest automotive retailers.