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Business Acquisitions and Dispositions | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2011
Business Acquisitions and Dispositions [Abstract] |
Business Acquisitions and Dispositions |
2. | Business Acquisitions and Dispositions
Acquisitions Sonic’s growth strategy is focused on metropolitan markets, predominantly in the Southeast, Southwest, Midwest and California. Where practicable, Sonic also seeks to acquire stable dealerships that Sonic believes have above average sales prospects. Under Sonic’s amended and restated syndicated revolving credit agreement and syndicated floor plan credit facility (the “2011 Credit Facilities”), Sonic is restricted from making dealership acquisitions in any fiscal year if the aggregate cost of all such acquisitions occurring in any fiscal year is in excess of $50.0 million, or if the aggregate cost of such acquisitions is in excess of $175.0 million during the term of the agreement, without the written consent of the Required Lenders (as that term is defined in the 2011 Credit Facilities). With this restriction on Sonic’s ability to make dealership acquisitions, its acquisition growth strategy may be limited. See Note 6, “Long-Term Debt,” for further discussion of the 2011 Credit Facilities. Dispositions Sonic did not dispose of any dealerships during the year ended December 31, 2011. During the years ended December 31, 2010 and 2009, Sonic completed 7 and 12 dispositions, respectively. Of the 12 dispositions in the year ended December 31, 2009, 6 were General Motors dealerships that were terminated by the manufacturer as of December 31, 2009. The dispositions during the years ended December 31, 2010 and 2009 generated cash of approximately $24.7 million and $27.3 million, respectively. The operating gains or losses associated with these disposed dealerships are included in the amounts shown in the table below. In conjunction with dealership dispositions, Sonic has agreed to indemnify the buyers from certain liabilities and costs arising from operations or events that occurred prior to sale but which may or may not be known at the time of sale, including environmental liabilities and liabilities associated from the breach of representations or warranties made under the agreements. See Note 12, “Commitments and Contingencies,” for further discussion. Results associated with dealerships classified as discontinued operations were as follows:
|  | Year Ended December 31, |
|  | 2011 |  |  | 2010 |  |  | 2009 |
|  | (In thousands) |
Income (loss) from operations |  | $ | (2,383 | ) |  | $ | (6,634 | ) |  | $ | (12,579 | )
Gain (loss) on disposal |  |  | (314 | ) |  |  | 2,629 |  |  |  | (293 | )
Lease exit accrual adjustments |  |  | (171 | ) |  |  | (4,232 | ) |  |  | (30,794 | )
Property impairment charges |  |  | — |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | (4,992 | )
Goodwill impairment charges |  |  | — |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | (1,586 | )
Pre-tax income (loss) |  | $ | (2,868 | ) |  | $ | (8,237 | ) |  | $ | (50,244 | )
Total revenues |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | 55,077 |  |  | $ | 294,390 |
Sonic allocates corporate-level interest to discontinued operations based on the net assets of the discontinued operations group. Interest allocated to discontinued operations for the years ended December 31, 2010 and 2009 was $0.2 million and $2.0 million, respectively.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for a business combination (or series of individually immaterial business combinations) completed during the period, including background, timing, and recognized assets and liabilities. The disclosure may include leverage buyout transactions (as applicable). + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) -Number 141 -Paragraph 51, 52 -LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy. Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 6 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6909870&loc=d3e1500-128463 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 30 -Section 50 -Paragraph 3 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6911361&loc=d3e7000-128479 Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 30 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6911361&loc=d3e6927-128479 Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 30 -Section 50 -Paragraph 4 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6911361&loc=d3e7008-128479 Reference 6: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 4 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6909870&loc=d3e1490-128463 Reference 7: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 30 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6911361&loc=d3e6996-128479 Reference 8: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6910749&loc=d3e4922-128472 Reference 9: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 4 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6910749&loc=d3e4934-128472 Reference 10: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) -Number 141R -Appendix F -Paragraph F4 -Subparagraph e Reference 11: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 3 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6910749&loc=d3e4926-128472 Reference 12: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6909870&loc=d3e1383-128463 Reference 13: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6909870&loc=d3e1392-128463 Reference 14: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 5 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6909870&loc=d3e1497-128463 Reference 15: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) -Number 141R -Paragraph 67-73 -LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy. Reference 16: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 7 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6909870&loc=d3e1524-128463 Reference 17: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Emerging Issues Task Force (EITF) -Number 88-16 -LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy. 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