Auto Glass Industry Has Little to Say Following Acquisitions by Casey Neeley, cneeley@glass.com The news of Boyd's purchase of 61 Glass America locations, Mygrant Glass' acquisition of Bartlestone and Wholesale Glass Distributors and Caliber's takeover of Denver-based Hank's Auto Body, has brought little reaction from the AGRR industry. For those who did express concern, the sale of Glass America and Mygrant's purchase took the spotlight. On the glassBYTEs.com™/AGRR™magazine message forum, a user called "My Name is Earl" says, "I think Gerber/Boyd are really trying to build both the collision and the auto glass models now or; at least whenever possible through acquisition. This purchase of Glass America seems light and Glass America seems like it was cash strapped to sell for what it sold for with sales of $42 million. The price for control of Glass America under $7 million? That means that they were suffering terribly at the hands of Safelite's steering or just being slow like the rest of us. We must still figure out a way to get away from networks, who are our competition." "Now to sit back and watch how [Gerber] operate[s] [Glass America] ... they are not a company that is about wasting money," says "Iknoweverythingyesido..." on the message forum. Referring to the change in ownership for Bartlestone and Wholesale, a user identified as "xs" says, "One of the main reason why Bartlestone failed is they forgot about the smaller accounts that bought from them, paid their bills up to date all the time and they went after the big corporate accounts that net in 30 to 60 days and didn't buy much from them." The Boyd Group announced late Friday, May 31, that it had purchased majority ownership and controlling interest in Chicago-based Glass America, adding 61 locations to its company total. Additionally, Mygrant Glass recently acquired the assets of Bartelstone Glass Distributors and Wholesale Glass Distributors to effectively enter the New York and New Jersey markets, while Caliber Collisions Centers added three Denver-area automotive and auto glass repair shops to its collection. What do you think about the recent multiple acquisitions? Email the editor at cneeley@glass.com or visit our message forum to post your thoughts. This story is an original story by AGRR™ magazine/glassBYTEs.com™. Subscribe to AGRR™ Magazine. |
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