David Roberts 2025 was a year of two halves for the collision repair industry — a prolonged slowdown that tested operators and investors alike, followed by a single blockbuster transaction that reshaped the competitive landscape overnight. Focus Advisors’ annual Year in Review covers the full picture: what drove M&A activity (and what held it back), where the … Read more
Slowdown, Then a Blockbuster — Year in Review 2025 January 2025 seemed full of promise, with revenues appearing to rebound from 2024. Operators were excited, expecting a return to growth mode. But February brought a series of headwinds that persisted for much of the year. From continued increases in total-loss frequency to the whipsaw impact … Read more
Observations from Focus Advisors on the deal, the terms and the implications for the collision repair industry Gerber’s Acquisition of Joe Hudson’s is a Big Deal! The combination of Boyd Group’s Gerber Collision and Joe Hudson’s Collision Centers unites the second- and fifth-largest U.S. operators (by store count) into a single 1301-shop North American enterprise. The combined entity … Read more
On Thursday, November 3, Focus Advisors Founder and Managing Director, David Roberts, and EVP and Managing Director John Walcher will present at the MSO Symposium on the state of the collision repair industry. You can download his full presentation from the event using the form below — simply enter your name, company, and email address.
On Wednesday, July 9, Focus Advisors Founder and Managing Director, David Roberts, and EVP and Managing Director, John Walcher, presented at the MSO Symposium about the state of the collision repair industry. Their full presentation is available for download if you’d kindly provide your name, company, and email address in the fields below.
What Private Equity Firms Should Look for in a Platform Acquisition In a recent conversation with a large private equity firm, we were asked to give some advice about how they might build a substantial consolidator from scratch. This particular firm had identified a very accomplished executive in the automotive space, but not specifically in … Read more
Andrew Wright, Managing Partner at Vinart Dealerships, had successfully built a thriving automotive enterprise with five locations including a free-standing 40,000 square foot body shop. Managing the body shop alongside multiple remodeling projects and ongoing acquisitions was stretching his resources thin
In the last five months, more than $9 billion in capital has been invested into the collision repair industry by private equity firms. The biggest chunk of this new capital was $4.6 billion in debt refinancing by Caliber Collision. Crash Champions also refinanced a significant piece of its debt and brought in an additional equity investment. Classic Collision, CollisionRight, VIVE Collision and Kaizen all found new sponsors. As the industry’s leading M&A advisor, we have thoughts and comments.
A sale of your shop may seem like a long way off, but it doesn’t hurt to start thinking about what the process looks like, says Focus Advisors Managing Director David Roberts. Amid all the hustle and bustle of the last three years of COVID, PPP loans, parts shortages, technician shortages and consolidation, there has … Read more
David Roberts, Managing Director of Focus Advisors (focusadvisors.com), comments on the many acquisitions and openings in the first half of 2022. Originally a co-founder of Caliber Collision, Roberts has led multiple MSO and paint distribution transactions including last year’s sale of Quanz Auto Body to Crash Champions. He can be contacted at david.roberts@focusadvisors.com, 510-444-1173. State of … Read more
