SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Focus Advisors and Veritas Advisors are pleased to announce a strategic merger of the most successful, seasoned, and respected M&A firms in the automotive collision repair industry. Focus CEO David Roberts and Veritas Founder John Walcher, together with their teams, bring more than 70 years of experience founding, growing, funding, and advising automotive aftermarket companies. With unmatched experience, reputation and market intelligence, the combined firm delivers a new dimension of expertise and capacity to better serve automotive service companies seeking to grow and sell.
The combination expands Focus Advisors’ capabilities across three important value dimensions:
- Enhanced Capital Solutions: Broader and deeper experience serving clients with recapitalizations, debt and equity growth capital, and complex exit advice.
- Strategic Value Creation: A dedicated growth program leveraging an extensive operator network, financial expertise, real estate experience, and market intelligence to create clear strategies that maximize eventual exit outcomes.
- Expanded Market Reach: Extension of Focus’ proven methodologies and transaction capabilities into adjacent aftermarket sectors including auto mechanical service and heavy-duty collision.
As Executive Vice President, Managing Director and equity holder, Walcher will join CEO David Roberts and President Chris Lane on the Focus Advisors senior management team. Roberts established Focus Advisors in 2003, after serving as Co-Founder and Chairman of Caliber Collision Centers. Lane has more than 10 years of automotive M&A experience, preceded by a successful career in business management and consulting. Walcher founded Veritas Advisors in 2009, after holding senior M&A positions at Caliber Collision and two Fortune 500© companies. Combined, the team has advised on over 120 automotive services deals—including acquisitions, capital raises, joint ventures, and divestitures involving small MSOs to some of the largest operators in the industry.
“We’re not just facilitating transactions—we’re helping clients anticipate and successfully adapt to the future of both the collision repair industry and the entire automotive aftermarket,” said David Roberts. “With this merger, we’re expanding our ability to serve more and larger clients with unparalleled insight, reach, and value creation.”
President Chris Lane said, “Focus Advisors is respected across the industry for delivering data-driven insights, optimized strategies, and seamless execution from growth planning through successful exits. John’s addition to our team will further enhance our decades of connections and relationships with operators, investors, consolidators, and thought leaders.”
“This merger is about multiplying impact,” said Walcher. “Together, we provide unmatched strategic guidance to clients navigating today’s fast-moving M&A environment in all segments of the aftermarket repair industry – from collision to mechanical to heavy-duty vehicles. Focus Advisors is now better positioned than ever to advise on the rapidly evolving consolidation landscape across the broader automotive services sector.”
About Focus Advisors
Focus Advisors, which recently merged with Veritas Advisors, is one of the automotive service industry’s leading M&A advisory firms, partnering with high-performance independent shops and MSOs with up to $100M in annual revenue, helping owners achieve maximum value through strategic growth and exits. The Focus Advisors team has advised on more than 120 automotive M&A transactions, including the sale of some of the largest MSOs and franchisors in the collision repair industry.
For more information, contact Chris Lane at chris.lane@focusadvisors.com
Investment Banking Services and Securities offered through Independent Investment Bankers Corp, a broker-dealer, member FINRA, SIPC. Focus Advisors Automotive M&A is not affiliated with Independent Investment Bankers Corp.
