Belron, Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of auto glass giant Belron®, has acquired Windshield Pros of Murrieta, California, an automotive glass repair and replacement service providing operating in Southern California. This acquisition marks a step toward providing additional service capabilities to customers throughout California.

With this addition, Belron, Inc. now operates 34 stores in the United States under the trading names Elite Auto Glass, Glaspro and Windshield Pros. Last week Belron also announced that it had signed a letter of intent to buy Auto Glass Specialists of Madison, WI. (See Glass America Deal to Buy Auto Glass Specialists Falls Through, 9/30/05)

Wes Topping, CEO of Elite Auto Glass and Glaspro Inc. said, "We are extremely excited about teaming up with Mike Fox and the entire Windshield Pros Team. Windshield Pros is an outstanding company with great employees and a solid reputation in the market. The addition of Windshield Pros provides us with a stronger ability to service customers in this very important market. We are looking forward to a long and successful relationship with Mike and his team."

"With service to customers in the Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Diego Counties, Windshield Pros will benefit from the partnership with resources that now span over 28 countries worldwide."

The partnership was an easy decision for Windshield Pros’ CEO Mike Fox to make. "We feel becoming a part of Elite Auto Glass and the Belron organization will create a tremendous amount of value for our customers and employees", said Fox. " The resources and skills now available to us will allow Windshield Pros to further build on our commitment to training and supporting our employees so they can continue to deliver outstanding customer service. We feel this transaction will allow us to become a part of a great company for the long term."

Windshield Pros was founded in January of 1994, and is headquartered in Murrieta, California. It has full service auto glass shops, mobile units, and service centers throughout Southern California. Windshield Pros is a member of PPG PROSTARS, Lynx Services from PPG and also a member of the Chicago Auto Glass Group. The company has more than 50 employees.

Belron is the world’s largest vehicle glass repair and replacement (AGRR) company and owner of well known brands in the industry including AUTOGLASS® and CARGLASS®. The only global player in the AGRR market, it operates in 28 countries, across four continents. Belron has more than 1,000 branches and 3,500 mobile repair vehicles serving nearly 5 million customers a year, an average of one customer every seven seconds. Belron says its call centers worldwide handled 5 million calls last year.

For more information on Windshield Pros, http://www.windshieldpros.com/
For more information on Belron http://www.belron.com
For AGRR’s in-depth report on Belron CLICK HERE
For AGRR’s interview with Gary Lubner CLICK HERE