Georgica Auto Holdings, which operates 23 auto retail franchises throughout New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, announced a $70 million capital investment Wednesday from Franchise Equity Partners, which will now be a minority shareholder in the dealer group.

Georgica’s dealerships represent brands from Volkswagen Group, Porsche Cars North America, General Motors, BMW Group, Jaguar Land Rover, Stellantis, Toyota USA, American Honda, and Subaru of America.

They combine to sell more than 20,000 vehicles each year, pulling in revenues of more than $1 billion, the group said.

Franchise Equity Partners is an independently operated portfolio company of certain funds and accounts managed by HPS Investment Partners. It has been in operation for a year.

“Bringing Franchise Equity Partners in as a minority shareholder positions us to rapidly and thoughtfully grow our business, whilst retaining my Land Rover store in Manhattan and much of the real estate, outside of this partnership,” Gerogica CEO Jon Sobel said in a news release.

“I’ve known FEP's co-founders, Scott Romanoff and Mike Esposito, for more than 25 years and their unique model gives us the best of all worlds — access to passive, permanent capital and deep automotive and financial expertise while letting us retain our flexibility and autonomy as an independent business.”

FEP Auto Holdings Don Reese, who is a board member at DriveTime and its former CEO and president,  said in the release: “It's a thrill to join forces with Georgica Auto Holdings as we celebrate our first year in business. We believe that Jon Sobel is an ideal partner as we expand our investments in the northeast, and we look forward to helping Georgica Auto Holdings unlock its full growth potential.”

Mark LaNeve, a former Volvo, General Motors and Ford executive, is chairman of FEP Auto Holdings.

“This is an exciting time of significant change for the automotive retail industry as the dealer model continues to evolve and consumer demand for electric vehicles accelerates,” LaNeve said in a news release. “We believe scale will be critical and see tremendous opportunity with this investment in Georgica Auto Holdings as well as future investments to help dealers achieve growth and scale their footprint and operations.”