LONDON: Halfords Group has reached agreement to acquire Universal Tyre and Autocentres, a well-established motoring services provider in the South East of the UK, for consideration of £15 million, a news release said.

Approximately £9 million of the purchase price relates to the acquisition of real-estate and the net cash position of the business, with the remaining £6m paying for the underlying trading business. “We intend to sell and lease back the property within the next few months,” a statement noted.

Based in Kent, with 201 sites and 89 commercial vans operating in the South East and on the east coast of the UK, Universal specialises in tyre services, including the supply and fit of tyres for a wide range of vehicles, from cars to commercial and agricultural vehicles, as well as providing general car maintenance and repairs such as brakes, servicing and MOT.

Universal is set to report revenue in excess of £31m and EBITDA in excess of £1.5m for the year ended 31 December 20202. Post-acquisition, we are confident we can deliver synergies to the combined business.

“This acquisition takes us closer to our stated ambition of having over 550 garages in the UK and builds our coverage of the Commercial Truck and Van market. Following the transaction, we now have 374 garages, 185 Commercial vans, and 136 Halfords Mobile Expert vans operating in our Autocentres business. Combined with our 404 retail stores, we provide motoring services from over 1,000 locations, giving our customers unmatched levels of convenience across the country”.

“Following on from our acquisitions of McConechy’s and Tyres on the Drive in 2019, this is another exciting step in the growth of Halfords’ motoring servicing business as we continue to inspire and support a lifetime of motoring and cycling, and establish ourselves as a leading motoring service provider in the UK”.

Graham Stapleton, Chief Executive Officer, commented: “We have a clearly stated strategy of building a market-leading Motoring Services offer, and the acquisition of Universal is another important step forward in helping us to achieve that goal. We continue to see strong demand for our Autocentres, for our expanding fleet of Halfords Mobile Expert vans, and for our growing commercial business. Universal will help us to meet that demand whilst also expanding our geographic footprint in a market for which we see significant potential.”

Halfords is the UK’s leading provider of motoring and cycling products and services. www.halfords.com