October 24, 2008 // Franchising.com // Driven Brands, Inc., the parent of Meineke Car Care Centers, Econo Lube N' Tune, AutoQual, Aero Colours, Drive N Style, and Tortal.net, announced today the acquisition of Pennsylvania-based Maaco Franchising, Inc., the market leader in franchised auto body repair and painting.
Under the visionary leadership of founder Anthony A. Martino and the superb performance of its franchisees, Maaco has achieved a market position and reputation unrivaled by its competitors. With nearly 500 facilities in the US and Canada, Maaco provides extraordinary service and value to customers with vehicles requiring cosmetic collision or paint repairs. With the passing of 75-year-old Anthony Martino in January of this year, Mark A. Martino assumed the Chairman position. Together with President David M. Lapps, both are committed to carry on the Maaco tradition of excellence, service and market leadership.
Regarding the strategic acquisition of Maaco, Kenneth D. Walker, CEO of Driven Brands, said, "An acquisition of this magnitude and caliber represents a significant upside opportunity for Maaco and the entire Driven Brands portfolio. Sharing best practices across franchise systems and strengthening our buying power will allow for even greater profitability and future growth."
This is the third Driven Brands' acquisition this year along with the AutoQual and Drive N Style companies, both purchased this past February.
Walker added, "Our success continues to improve both organically and by adding great brands because the companies share a common franchise-based business model in the automotive aftermarket."
Maaco Executive Mark A. Martino, with the company since its founding in 1972, will assume the position of Co-Chairman of Maaco Franchising, Inc. "Our destiny is to become the market leader in the auto body industry as well as recognized by our customers as delivering great quality at a great value," he said. "Driven Brands shares our vision and has the resources and the management team which best complements our progress toward continued growth."
President David M. Lapps, with Maaco since 1974, commented, "The acquisition will not change our day-to-day operations. As far as our customers and franchisees are concerned, the transaction should be seamless. We hope and expect that there will be changes in the future which help us to further improve our systems and our leading market position."
About Driven Brands
Driven Brands, Inc., is headquartered in Charlotte, NC, and serves as parent company for the separate businesses: Meineke Car Care Centers, Inc. (a franchise-based automotive service and repair chain); Econo Lube & Tune (a franchised chain of automotive repair/quick lube services); a franchised network of mobile services consisting of AutoQual, Aero-Colours & Drive N Style (specializing in automotive interior reconditioning and maintenance, paint refinishing and restyling services for Car Dealerships) and Tortal.net (developer of on-line training solutions for a variety of industries).
About Maaco
Started in 1972, Maaco's impressive growth has secured a dominant 47% share of the US automotive production paint market. With extraordinary brand recognition and nearly 500 Maaco automotive franchise Centers operating in the U.S. and Canada today and system-wide sales approaching 1/2 Billion dollars, Maaco has been recognized by consumers, experts in the franchising industry and the media for overall excellence and future growth potential. The company has been cited numerous times by Entrepreneur magazine throughout the past decade as #1 in the franchise category in its Annual Franchise 500 survey.
About Meineke Car Care Centers
Beginning in 1972, Meineke Car Care Centers, Inc. has expanded its menu of product offerings to meet the demands of a changing marketplace. In 1986, the chain relocated from Houston, TX to Charlotte, NC. Demonstrating steady growth, both domestically and internationally with locations in Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South America, Saudi Arabia and China, Meineke now represents over 900 franchised service centers, with an additional 100 licenses sold and in development. The American Association of Franchisees & Dealers recognized Meineke in 2001 as its first automotive industry Franchisor to earn the coveted Fair Franchising Seal and Meineke regularly appears in Entrepreneur Magazine's Annual Franchise 500 (80th in 2008), a list of the 500 best franchise opportunities in America.
About Econo Lube N' Tune
Econo Lube N' Tune & Brakes was established in 1973 and was acquired by Driven Brands in 2006. The franchise automotive service chain has 190 units primarily in the Southwest and West and boasts 60 units which are co-branded with Meineke. This new concept of combining express oil changes with more technical repair expertise is proving very successful in the marketplace.
About AutoQual
Beginning in 1998, Ryan Elliott, an automotive entrepreneur, developed a series of proprietary processes and services for used/leased cars that not only made a car look and smell fresh but maintained that factory-new experience until the car was sold. The business quickly grew from a local Colorado-based company to a nationally recognized franchise with locations in 23 states and 4 provinces. In 2003 Automotive Franchise Systems LLC acquired AutoQual, building it to the category leader it is today.
About Aero Colours
Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Aero Colours was the first company to market an airbrush touchup process for repairing stone chips on automobiles. Using specially equipped vans, Aero-Colours began by servicing new car dealerships exclusively, then extended service to used car dealers and now provides service to owners of personal vehicles. The company celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2005 and services more than 225,000 vehicles per year.
About Drive N Style
Started in 2000 as Dealer Extras, Inc., founder Butch Davis created the first mobile installation company that specialized in the installation of unique interior and exterior restyling components. In 2004, Automotive Franchise Systems LLC acquired the innovative company, re-branded it to Drive N Style and began to develop a franchise network with a dealership-focused marketing approach promoting its unique "on-lot" installation capability.
About Tortal.net
Tortal.net is a training company that specializes in developing interactive on-line training solutions. Tortal.net provides the tools needed to set-up a training site, track users, build custom courses, and distribute the training content worldwide. For information on Tortal.net services contact their SVP Sales and Marketing at 704-644-8136.
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