BOYD GROUP BUYS U.S. AUTO REPAIR COMPANY

WINNIPEG – Boyd Group Income Fund (TSX:BYD.UN), Canada’s largest auto body repair company, says it has struck a definitive agreement to acquire True2Form Collision Repair Centers Inc., a U.S. company with 37 shops in four states — North Carolina, Ohio, Maryland and Pennsylvania.
The pricetag of Monday’s announced deal is US$18 million.
Boyd said the acquisition is expected to immediately boost the fund’s distributable cash per unit.
"The acquisition of True2Form is a significant strategic move for the Boyd Group as it allows us to enhance our presence in the eastern United States with an additional 37 locations in states and markets that we do not currently operate in, thereby complementing our existing network," said Brock Bulbuck, president and chief executive of the Winnipeg auto body company.
"True2Form is also attractive to us because of its strong leadership team, its deep operational expertise and its tradition of providing industry-leading repair quality and customer service. While we are continuing our growth strategy of adding between eight to ten new locations per year, this acquisition represents a unique opportunity to acquire a strategic multi-location repair business that can accelerate our growth."
The deal is slated to close by August 1.
Boyd said it will pay for the transaction with cash, U.S. bank debt, third-party financing and a vendor take-back note. The fund said it won’t be issuing any new equity to help pay for the deal so there won’t be any equity dilution to unitholders.
True2Form is a private auto collision repair company with 17 locations in North Carolina, eight in Ohio, seven in Maryland and five in Pennsylvania. The company generated revenues of more than US$71 million in the year ended May 31.
With the acquisition of True2Form, the Boyd Group will grow to 129 auto body shops in North America — 92 in 11 U.S. states and 37 in the four Western Canadian provinces.
The Winnipeg company operates through Boyd Autobody & Glass in Western Canada and Gerber Collision & Glass in the United States.