Mélissa Samatas
Dealer Solutions Mergers & Acquisitions (DSMA) has appointed Mélissa Samatas as Partner and Chief Operating Officer of its Canadian operations only 14 months after joining the company as an associate, following the sale of her family’s dealership business.
DSMA made the appointment earlier this month. The plan is for Samatas to take over full operational control in 2026, as DSMA explores growth and development opportunities. DSMA sold the Montreal-based Samatas Group — the business that Mélissa’s father Thomas started and ran for 45 years — before selling to the Desjardins Automotive Group in April 2024.
DSMA Founder/CEO Farid Ahmad said Samatas’ experience in the sale of the family business gave her a deep, personal understanding of what matters most to its clients: trust, discretion and results. She was hired as an Associate by DSMA following the sale.
“After only a year she fully grasped the concept of our business, putting together and completing transactions,” said Ahmad in an interview with Canadian auto dealer. “She impressed us as a mature, talented leader who had all the skills and attributes to take DSMA to a higher level in Canada.”
The sale of the Montreal-based Samatas Group included Excel Honda, Encore Honda, St-Constant Honda and Vaudreuil Honda, Excel Moto dealership and S&H Leasing. The company had 220 employees, and the four Honda dealerships had annual sales of more than 3,000 new vehicles and 1,600 pre-owned vehicles.
Mélissa Samatas worked for her father for 21 years, including as vice president at the time of the sale, in which she was heavily involved. She told Canadian auto dealer she didn’t know DSMA would promote her so quickly, but thought her retail experience and involvement in selling the family business were positive attributes.
“I got to see the whole part of the business from a client’s side and I think that really helped my understanding on how it works, what clients are looking for, pain points, things that DSMA does well, areas that we can improve,” said Samatas. “I think that was a huge help in understanding DSMA. I can relate to dealers.”
She said being a woman chosen for a leadership position by DSMA means a lot.“It makes me very happy that Farid doesn’t really see gender, he doesn’t see nationality. He sees attitude, talent, opportunity and he’s beyond everything else. That’s definitely a plus and a positive. Yes, it is a challenge. I faced challenges when I was on the retail side and at DSMA it is not even an issue.”
She also said having a vested interest as a Partner is another plus. “There’s a lot of potential and I like working as a team,” said Samatas.
While DSMA has established itself as the leader in Canada in mergers and acquisitions, Samatas said there is excellent potential for development and growth.
“There’s so much opportunity because there’s verticals,” she said. “There’s variances in the industry. There’s agriculture, there’s construction company equipment, there’s rental equipment companies, anything that has an engine. They all run three or four different departments just like a car dealer. They have a manufacturer they are partnered with. It’s exactly the same, it’s just a different function of the vehicle basically.”
She also mentioned DSMA’s expertise in succession planning, where every step of the sale is covered. “There’s no company out there, and I know from experience, that can do everything from insurance all the way to the estate freeze, all the way to the potential sale of the business.”
