WOODCHESTER is expected to acquire the finance arm of the Northern Irish motor group, Charles Hurst, as part of the takeover of the group by Lookers. Woodchester owns 30 per cent of Manchester based Lookers which is due to announce that it is buying Charles Hurst for over £24 million, when publishes its 1995 results this morning. Lookers is expected to pay for the acquisition through a rights issue also to be announced today.

Woodchester is understood to be paying around £4 million for the Charles. Hurst's financial services and insurance broking divisions which both trade under the name Adelaide. Charles Hurst is the largest motor distributor in the North with turnover of £150 million. It is a distributor for Rover, Nissan and Citroen cars, as well as a number of other makes.

The purchase of Adelaide will give Woodchester a strong foothold in the North where it has had a limited presence to date. As well as access to the lucrative market for motor vehicle financing, the acquisition will also allow Woodchester to expand its insurance broking business in the North. Adelaide Insurance Services is a general insurance broker with branches in Ballymena, Coleraine, Enniskillen and at Boucher Road, Castle Court, and Abbey Centre in Belfast. Adelaide Financial Services is based at Charles Hurst's headquarters at Boucher Road in Belfast.

Woodchester is expected to look at merging Adelaide's operation with its existing financing and insurance broking operations based in Dublin.

Charles Hurst was established in 1911 as manufacturer of car bodies and in 1985 it became part of the privately owned TBF Thompson group. As well as being the largest car dealer in the North it also has a substantial second hand car sales operation, Charles Hurst Autocentres, which sells over 7,500 used cars a year. The group is also a distributor for BP Oil in the North.