Tricolor Auto was founded in 2007 by Daniel McDonough, who ran it as CEO, and grew with growth capital from the private equity firm Serent Capital through a management buyout. The dealerships operated under parent company Tricolor Holdings LLC until it filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on September 10, 2025, and the business is now being liquidated by a court-appointed trustee while federal prosecutors pursue fraud charges against its top three executives.1U.S. Department of Justice. CEO, CFO, COO Charged in Connection With Billion-Dollar Collapse of Tricolor Auto So the short answer depends on when you ask: before September 2025, a closely held company led by McDonough and backed by Serent; after, a bankruptcy estate.
The Founder and Executive Team
Daniel McDonough founded Tricolor and continued to run day-to-day operations as chief executive through the company’s growth and collapse. Tricolor built its business around used vehicle sales paired with in-house financing for Hispanic customers who had limited or no credit history, using a proprietary credit scoring system to underwrite loans for buyers typically turned away by mainstream lenders.2S&P Global Ratings. Presale: Tricolor Auto Securitization Trust 2025-2 Under McDonough’s leadership, it grew into the largest used vehicle retailer focused on Hispanic consumers in the United States, with 64 dealership locations spread across Texas, California, New Mexico, Illinois, Arizona, and Nevada.
Alongside McDonough, Tricolor was run by a chief financial officer and a chief operating officer. All three now face criminal charges tied to the company’s collapse.
Serent Capital and the Private Equity Backing
Serent Capital partnered with the executive team to complete a management buyout and provided growth capital to scale the business.3Serent Capital. Tricolor Auto Growth Capital Investment That structure left McDonough and his team in operational control while Serent held an equity position acquired through the buyout. Serent Capital is the only private equity firm whose investment in Tricolor is publicly documented.
You may see claims online that PWP Growth Equity, a fund managed by Perella Weinberg Partners, held a controlling stake. No available financial records, press releases, rating agency documents, or court filings confirm that claim.
Tricolor Holdings and Its Dealership Brands
If you bought a car from a dealership that didn’t literally say “Tricolor” on the sign, you may still have been dealing with the same owner. The parent, Tricolor Holdings LLC, ran several dealership brands under one roof: Tricolor Auto, Ganas, GanasYa, and Apoyo.4Tricolor Auto. Contact Us – Login Industry reporting also identified Lucky Lane Motors as part of the family. Every brand shared the same underwriting technology, financing infrastructure, and corporate leadership, and all of them went down together when the parent filed for bankruptcy.
Who Owns It Now: The Bankruptcy Estate
Tricolor Holdings filed for Chapter 7 liquidation in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas on September 10, 2025.1U.S. Department of Justice. CEO, CFO, COO Charged in Connection With Billion-Dollar Collapse of Tricolor Auto Chapter 7 is not a restructuring. The company is done, and a court-appointed trustee sells off remaining assets to pay creditors. Anne Elizabeth Burns was appointed as the Chapter 7 trustee, meaning she now controls what’s left of the business for the benefit of its lenders and other creditors. The filing disclosed assets valued between $1 billion and $10 billion against liabilities exceeding $1 billion.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York has charged Tricolor’s CEO, CFO, and COO in connection with the collapse, alleging that the company pledged the same pools of auto loans as collateral on separate credit lines with different banks. Prosecutors say Tricolor’s largest lenders had advanced more than $900 million based on those fraudulently pledged assets by the time of the bankruptcy. The criminal case is ongoing, and the allegations remain unproven in court.
What This Means If You Have a Loan
Ownership of the dealerships ended with the bankruptcy, but ownership of individual auto loans is a separate question. Loans are assets of the estate and get transferred to new servicers or sold to other financial institutions as part of the liquidation. Vervent, a San Diego firm that specializes in loan servicing and capital markets, was listed as the backup servicer on Tricolor’s securitized loans.
Keep making payments. Missing payments because the original lender went bankrupt does not protect you from repossession or credit damage once your loan is assigned to a new servicer. If you haven’t received instructions about where to send payment, check the Tricolor website for updated contact information or reach out to the bankruptcy trustee’s office. If you’ve paid your loan off but haven’t received a title, contact your state’s department of motor vehicles, since lien releases and title transfers may be delayed while the liquidation is sorted out.