Kohlberg & Company has agreed to acquire a majority interest in Parts Authority, a distributor of automotive aftermarket parts, from The Jordan Company.
Parts Authority (PA) is a distributor of nearly 500,000 SKUs of automotive and truck parts, tools and equipment, and transmissions to the automotive aftermarket industry. PA’s customers include independent installers, national fleets, jobbers, and e-tailers.
PA has grown through both organic initiatives and acquisitions and in the past twelve years has acquired over a dozen companies. Today, the company has over 200 locations across the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Ohio, Georgia, Florida, Texas, Arizona, California, Utah, and the Pacific Northwest. PA was founded in 1972 and is headquartered on Long Island in Lake Success, New York.
The Jordan Company (TJC) will retain an equity position in the company and the PA management team, led by CEO Randy Buller, will continue to lead the company and remain as shareholders.
“TJC has been an excellent partner to Parts Authority over the past several years as we have continued to expand our footprint in the U.S. through new greenfield locations and acquisitions,” said Mr. Buller. “The entire Parts Authority staff is excited to partner with Kohlberg for this next phase as we look to continue expanding our business across the nation.”
“We are delighted to partner with Randy and the Parts Authority team,” said Evan Wildstein, a partner at Kohlberg. “The company has clearly established itself as a leading national distributor within the automotive aftermarket. We believe the company is well-positioned to continue on an accelerated growth trajectory through a highly successful organic and acquisition-driven strategy.”
Kohlberg & Company invests in companies in the industrial manufacturing; consumer products; business services; healthcare services; and financial services sectors. The firm concentrates on companies with EBITDA between $20 million and $100 million where it can invest between $50 million and $200 million of equity. In March 2018, Blackstone acquired a minority equity interest in the firm. Kohlberg & Company was founded in 1987 and is based north of New York City in Mt. Kisco, New York.
“Randy and the rest of the Parts Authority team have done a phenomenal job of turning the company into the distributor-of-choice in the automotive aftermarket parts industry,” said Ian Arons, a partner of TJC. “We are excited to continue investing alongside the Parts Authority team and look forward to working with the company and Kohlberg in this next stage of growth.”
The Jordan Company is a middle-market private equity firm that invests in a range of industries including industrials, transportation and logistics, healthcare, consumer, telecom, technology, and utilities. The firm was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in New York City with an additional office in Chicago.
Harris Williams was the financial advisor to Parts Authority while Stifel was the lead financial advisor to Kohlberg.
Private Equity Professional | October 6, 2020
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