PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — National Auto Care Corp. announced it will be acquired by Lovell Minnick Partners, a private equity firm with offices in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and New York. The acquisition is subject to receipt of standard regulatory approvals and satisfaction of customary closing conditions.
NAC, established in 1984 and acquired by Trivest Partners in 2012, is headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla. NAC is one of the longest-operating providers of products such as vehicle service contracts, guaranteed asset protection, limited warranty, tire, wheel and a full suite of ancillary protection products nationwide.
The executive leadership team at NAC will continue its day-to-day management of the company, and it will maintain operations at its current locations — in Westerville, Ohio, and Miami and Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
Through its independent agents, NAC supports over 2,300 partners that distribute its products. These include automobile dealers, credit unions, financial services companies, recreational dealers, and other strategic partners across North America. Company President and CEO Tony Wanderon said he is looking forward to the growth and opportunities NAC’s partnership with LMP will bring to NAC and its partners.
“LMP has strong experience investing in service-oriented businesses across the finance and insurance value chain that will prove invaluable as NAC builds upon our flexible and customized solutions to support our agency distributor partners in driving sales and profitability,” Wanderon said. “We believe LMP’s expertise in identifying and negotiating strategic transactions will add significant value to our acquisition strategy.”
While Wanderon and his team are excited about the changes, he notes that NAC enjoyed five years of outstanding success under its previous majority investor, Trivest Partners, which served as a great asset in NAC’s path to becoming a dominant player in the finance and insurance industry.
“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 LMP. “We look forward to partnering with President and CEO 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.”
LMP has a strong record of investing in and building fast-growing businesses across the insurance value chain, including J.S. Held, a specialty advisory firm providing property loss consulting, dispute resolution and construction and development services, and Worldwide Facilities LLC, one of the largest wholesale insurance brokerage companies in the U.S. Houlihan Lokey served as financial advisor to NAC and Trivest, and Sandler O’Neil was advisor to LMP. Madison Capital Funding LLC and NewStar Financial Inc. are providing debt financing for the transaction, which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2018, all according to the announcement.
