It has dealerships in Christchurch, Dunedin, Auckland and Wellington, selling more than 12,000 cars in the past year with a turnover approaching $500 million, and more than 500 staff. Its brands include Alfa Romeo, Audi, Hyundai, Jaguar, Mercedes, and Toyota.
Last year, the company started a review of its capital structure, looking for outside investment to fund growth plans, which included a listing on the New Zealand and Australian stock exchanges.
However, chief executive Troy Kennedy said it had taken a "pragmatic" decision to delay until there were more stable investment conditions.
"It was important to the team we get this right for investors and the business. We're prepared to be patient and to continue executing on our growth agenda in the meantime."
Kennedy said market turbulence, macro-economic conditions, and geopolitical events were a trifecta of reasons for the decision.
He said there had been strong interest from a private and institutional investors, but now was not the time to try to list. In the meantime, the company would press on with its broader strategy.
"While we have hit pause for now, we have a number of significant strategic initiatives to progress this year. We believe the market will further consolidate in the coming years and Armstrong's intends to play a lead role during this period," Kennedy said.
Last year, it sold about 12,000 cars with turnover of $448 million, with expectations it will go through $500m this financial year. In addition to car sales, it also has finance, insurance and servicing operations, and overall has more than 500 staff.
"We continue to see strong month-on-month customer demand as well as strong growth in our order book, supported by the government's Clean Car Discount programme."
The group would look for further organic growth tied to building-up and diversifying the brand portfolio, as well as real estate developments.
It said it planned to retain Jarden and UBS as joint managers for the share float.
