Washington, DC, New York NY, and Dallas, TX, July 23, 2014. Service King Collision Repair Centers announced today a partnership with Blackstone (NYSE:BX) in order to recapitalize one the largest U.S. independent chains of auto body repair centres. A significant minority share of the Company will be retained by the Carlyle Group (NASDAQ : CG), its co-investors, and the Management and Employees of Service King. The terms of the transaction, expected to close in the third quarter, have not been disclosed.
Service King was Established in 1976 in Dallas, Texas. It is headquartered in Dallas
Chris Abraham, Service King’s Chief Executive Officer, stated that “We are grateful to our partnership with the skilled teams at the Carlyle U.S. Equity Opportunity Fund & Carlyle Strategic Partners” “Service King’s growth in recent years is a good example of Carlyle’s long-term approach towards value creation. We look forward to continuing to execute our strategy with our Blackstone partners.”
Shary Moalemzadeh (Carlyle Managing Director) and Co-Head, Carlyle Strategic Partners said that Service King has experienced tremendous growth in a fragmented market and Carlyle is proud of their accomplishments. We will continue to support Service King’s growth strategy and business, and we are proud of the achievements we have together during Carlyle’s investment period.
David Stonehill, Carlyle’s Managing Director, and a member of the Carlyle U.S. Equity Opportunity investment group, said that “we are thrilled to have worked with management and employee-owners to expand the business over two years” and look forward to the continuation of management’s expansion plans. Service King’s dedication to customers and its focus on quality collision repair service initially attracted us to this investment. We welcome Blackstone’s participation in strengthening the brand and business.
Peter Wallace, Blackstone Senior Manager Director, stated, “We are thrilled to invest in Service King, an industry leader with an unmatched commitment to its customers, and focus on high-quality service. We look forward to working with Management, Carlyle, and the Company’s employee-owners to support Service King’s continued growth.
Equity for Carlyle’s August 2012 investment at Service King was derived from the $1.1billion Carlyle U.S Equity Opportunity Fund and the$700m Carlyle Strategic Partners Fund II L.P.
Carlyle’s U.S. Equity Opportunity Fund is built on two decades of experience in mid-market buyout investing. Recent deals include Galaxy Brands, a platform for consumer brand development and acquisition, and ECi Software Solutions (a provider of enterprise resource management and business applications). Carlyle Strategic Partners invests in companies that are financially sound but have immediate needs. Recent deals include Klenk Holz AG in Europe, a company that produces wood-product products, and Waddington North America which manufactures premium plastic foodservice disposables.
About Service King
Service King, a multi-shop operator of collision repair facilities across the country is dedicated to providing superior customer service. Service King was founded in Dallas, Texas 38 years ago. It currently serves customers in 177 locations in twenty-eight states.
About The Carlyle Group
The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ : CG) manages $199 billion in alternative assets across 120 funds and 13 fund of funds vehicles. Carlyle’s mission is to create value for its investors, many who are pension funds. Carlyle invests in four segments: Corporate Private Equity and Real Assets; Global Market Strategies and Solutions; and this is done in Africa, Asia and Australia. Carlyle is an expert in many industries including aerospace, defense and government services, consumer and retail, energy, financial, healthcare, industrial real estate, technology, business services, telecommunications, media, transportation, and other services. More than 1,600 people work in the Carlyle Group’s 38 offices on six continents.
Blackstone is a leading global investment firm. Our goal is to have a positive economic impact on the world and create long-term value for investors, companies that we invest in, as well as the communities where we work. This is possible by using exceptional people and flexible capital to solve companies’ problems. With almost $300 billion of assets under management, our asset management businesses include investment vehicles that focus on private equity, real property, equity, public debt, equity, non-investment-grade credit, real assets, and secondary funds. This is all done on a global scale. Blackstone also offers various financial advisory services including financial and strategy advisory, restructuring and organization advisory, and fund placement services.
