Highlights from SEMA
Comments and observations after a week in Las Vegas at the MSO Symposium, CIC and SEMA
Articles
Straight Talk about Selling Your Body Shops
The time for straight talk about selling is long overdue for many owners. No matter how much people want to avoid the specifics of leaving the business, selling their shops and maximizing the value of their business and real estate, continuing to put off that discussion isn’t being fair to your family, your employees and … Read more
Planning Ahead by Looking Back
Article by David Roberts featured in FenderBender’s October 2021 issue Remember Labor Day 2016 – five years ago? The recession was in the rear-view mirror. Business was thriving. Miles driven were increasing. New car sales were breaking records. State Farm had more than 18% market share. Paint loans were readily available for growing shops. Exit … Read more
Focus Advisors Represents a 2-shop MSO in its sale to an Undisclosed Buyer
October 1, 2021 – Focus Advisors, the leading M&A firm specializing in collision repair transactions, is proud to announce the sale of two shops to an undisclosed buyer. Kurt and Kathy Johnson, co-owners of the MSO in Puyallup and 30-year industry veterans, built their highly successful MSO 30 miles south of Seattle. Co-owner Kathy Johnson … Read more
Focus Advisors Represents the Parsons/Middleton 8-shop MSO in its sale to an Undisclosed Buyer
October 1, 2021 – Focus Advisors, the leading M&A firm specializing in collision repair transactions, is proud to announce the sale of eight shops to an undisclosed buyer. Owners Jeff Middleton and Kevin Parsons operated their eight shops as an MSO with key locations along the I5 corridor in the Seattle WA region. David Roberts, … Read more
Observations on Collision Works’ Sale to Gerber
Gerber’s recent acquisition of Collision Works (CW) is the largest acquisition of an independent MSO in the last three years. Combined with the acquisition of John Harris Body Shops in South Carolina, we estimate Gerber has added nearly 10% to its overall revenues with these two large acquisitions. These two acquisitions by Gerber reflects the … Read more
Focus Advisors Industry Observations: The Rise of Amazon and How it Impacts the Collision Repair Industry
How much attention do you pay to those ever-present gray vans emblazoned with the Amazon logo? Did you ever stop to think who owns them? And who repairs them? The prevalence of smartphones and quick internet connections has completely and permanently changed the consumer landscape. Among these changes, Amazon has risen to become a firmly … Read more
COVID Update: Resilience and Realization
Resilience and Realization – Two different responses to the COVID pandemic In dozens of discussions with shop owners over the past four months, there is a marked divergence among MSOs about their plans for the future. Many who are experiencing a strong rebound in revenues, have strong balance sheets and managed their expenses throughout the … Read more
2020 Hindsight! The Year in Review
The year that was and the year to come. Can anyone imagine a more incredible and challenging time? First Quarter 2020 was a record quarter of revenue and earnings for most collision repairers across North America. Universally, operators were expecting the best was yet to come. The COVID virus was a page 12 concern, not … Read more
Westward Ho: Dramatic Changes in the Southern California Repair Market
Four significant acquisitions in the last six months are emphatic evidence of the momentous changes in the largest collision repair market in the US – Southern California with more than $3.5 billion in repair volume. In quick succession, Chicago based Crash Champions has acquired Pacific Elite and Fountain Valley Auto Body while Atlanta based Classic … Read more
