Halfords to acquire Universal Tyre and Autocentres
Halfords is to acquire motoring services provider Universal Tyre and Autocentres in a £15 million deal.
The car part and cycling retailer said around £9 million of the purchase price will relate to its acquisition of real-estate and the net cash position of the business, while the remaining £6 million will pay for the underlying trading business. Halfords will sell and lease back the property within the next few months.
Based in Kent, Universal Tyre and Autocentres has 20 sites and 89 commercial vans operating in the South East and on the east coast of the UK. The company expects to report revenue of over £31 million and EBITDA in excess of £1.5 million for the year to 31 December 2020.
Halfords said the acquisition will enable it to move one step closer to having over 550 garages in the UK. The retailer currently has 374 garages, 185 commercial vans and 136 Halfords Mobile Expert vans operating in its autocentres business.
Graham Stapleton, chief executive of Halfords, said: “We have a clearly stated strategy of building a market-leading Motoring Services offer, and the acquisition of Universal is another important step forward in helping us to achieve that goal. We continue to see strong demand for our autocentres, for our expanding fleet of Halfords Mobile Expert vans, and for our growing commercial business. Universal will help us to meet that demand whilst also expanding our geographic footprint in a market for which we see significant potential.”
