Lovell Minnick Partners has agreed to acquire National Auto Care Corporation from Trivest Partners.
National Auto Care (NAC) is a nationwide provider of automotive protection products including vehicle service contracts, guaranteed asset protection, limited warranty, tire, wheel and other ancillary protection products. The company’s products are sold through more than 2,300 independent agents including automobile dealers, credit unions, financial services companies, and recreational vehicle dealers. NAC, led by CEO Tony Wanderon, was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Jacksonville (www.nationalautocare.com).
Trivest acquired NAC through its $325 million fourth fund in January 2013. “Since our investment nearly six years ago, NAC has grown to be one of the premier providers in the finance and insurance space, and we are extremely proud of our partnership and investment in such an exciting company. We are confident that NAC and the management team are well positioned for continued growth and success through their partnership with Lovell Minnick,” said Troy Templeton, a Managing Partner at Trivest.
Trivest makes control and non-control investments in founder or family-owned businesses in the United States and Canada that have revenues of at least $25 million and cash flows of at least $5 million. Sectors of interest include manufacturing, distribution, business and healthcare services, and consumer industries. Trivest held a first and final closing of Trivest Fund VI LP with $600 million of capital commitments in September 2017. Fund VI was Trivest’s twelfth overall fund, seventh institutional fund and fifth fund focused on founder/family-owned investments. The firm was founded in 1981 and has completed more than 250 transactions totaling over $6 billion in value. Trivest is headquartered in Miami (www.trivest.com).
“NAC is the premier national market leader in developing innovative products that help protect consumers from a wide range of risks that can arise with vehicle or power sport ownership,” said Trevor Rich, a Partner at Lovell Minnick. “We look forward to partnering with Tony Wanderon, who is an accomplished veteran and innovator in the automotive protection industry, and his experienced team at NAC, as our investment positions the company to aggressively pursue acquisitions that complement its strong growth trajectory.”
Lovell Minnick provides buyout and growth capital to middle-market financial services companies, typically making equity commitments of between $20 million and $100 million. Areas of specific interest include asset management, financial product distribution, insurance and securities brokerage, specialty finance, and related technology and business services. Lovell Minnick is the successor to the private equity affiliate of Putnam Lovell Securities which was established in 1999 by Jeffrey Lovell and James Minnick. The firm has offices in Philadelphia, New York and Los Angeles (www.lovellminnick.com).
Madison Capital Funding and NewStar Financial are providing debt financing for this acquisition which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2018.
Houlihan Lokey (www.HL.com) was the financial advisor to NAC.
© 2018 Private Equity Professional | July 31, 2018
