Continental Batteries, a portfolio company of Incline Equity Partners, has acquired Battery Sales & Service.
Battery Sales & Service (BSS) is an aftermarket battery distributor serving the automotive, commercial, solar, golf and marine markets. The company also offers route services to its customers which includes inventorying batteries, stock rotation, and disposal of junk batteries in accordance with EPA guidelines. BSS is headquartered in Memphis and has been serving the Mid-South and Gulf Coast markets since 1995 (www.batterysalesandservice.com).
Continental’s aftermarket batteries are distributed to the automotive, commercial, golf, marine and industrial markets. The company provides on-premise delivery to customers in major cities, as well as to those in regional and rural areas through its multi-location branch network. Continental was founded by Ralph McCann in 1932 and is headquartered in Dallas (www.continentalbattery.com).
“The geographic footprint and assortment of reputable brands of BSS are the perfect complements to our network and fit our overall strategic growth plans,” said Eric Royse, CEO of Continental. “The acquisition of BSS adds eight branch locations, expanding Continental’s market presence to forty-two branches across fifteen states.”
Incline partnered with the senior management team of Continental to acquire the business from family ownership in December 2017. The buy of BSS is the sixth add-on acquisition since Incline’s original investment. The five earlier acquisitions were Wholesale Battery (Baton Rouge, LA), Standard Battery (Kansas City, MO), Carolina Energy (Ft. Mill, SC), Battery Distributors SE (Jacksonville, FL), and Battery Distributors (Forest Park, GA).
“We remain enthusiastic about the ability to continue consolidating the highly fragmented aftermarket battery industry. Through partnerships with companies like BSS, we can quickly strengthen product and service offerings while more effectively serving customers,” said Jack Glover, managing partner of Incline.
Incline Equity Partners invests from $15 million to $30 million in support of recapitalizations, buyouts and corporate divestitures of lower middle market companies that have EBITDAs greater than $5 million and enterprise values between $25 million and $300 million. Sectors of interest include value-added distribution, specialized light manufacturing, and business services. Incline was formed in 2011 and is based in Pittsburgh (www.inclineequity.com).
© 2019 Private Equity Professional | March 14, 2019