Honolulu-based Servco Pacific Inc. is expanding its presence outside Hawai'i with plans to acquire a second automobile dealership in Australia.

The company said it reached an agreement to acquire a Toyota/Lexus dealership in Cairns, Australia. Pacific Toyota will become a part of Servco's Australia operations, which started in December 2007 when Servco acquired a Toyota dealership in Brisbane.

Pacific Toyota had been one of the top dealerships in Australia before it encountered economic difficulties and was placed in receivership late last year.

A purchase price was not disclosed.

"We believe that Toyota dealerships in Australia, if bought at the right price and managed well, will be a great source of future revenue, profitability and growth for Servco," said Mark Fukunaga, Servco chairman and CEO.

Servco is involved in sales of a wide variety of products, from automobiles and appliances to garage doors and insurance.

Servco locally has been strained by the recession, and in November laid off 118 employees, about 10 percent of its Hawai'i workforce, mostly in its automotive division.

The company is one of the state's 20 largest corporations, and traces its roots to the 1919 opening of a two-car garage in Hale'iwa on O'ahu's North Shore by owner Peter Fukunaga.