American Tire Distributors, Inc. (“ATD”) announced today that a fund managed by the Private Equity Group of Ares Management, L.P. (NYSE:ARES) has entered into an agreement to acquire a significant stake in the company, resulting in equal ownership between Ares and current majority shareholder TPG.
Terms of the transaction were not announced and closing is subject to certain conditions.
“This transaction is another significant milestone in ATD’s growth story, and we are proud now to have two very notable investors as our primary shareholders,” said Bill Berry, President and Chief Executive Officer of American Tire Distributors. “The company appreciates the guidance TPG has offered for the past five years, and we look forward to the added experience and expertise of Ares as we continue to expand as the premier tire distributor in North America.”
“We are pleased to be able to partner with TPG to continue to grow ATD, a market leader with a demonstrated track record and significant expansion opportunities ahead,” said David Kaplan, Co-Founder, Senior Partner, and Co-Head of the Private Equity Group of Ares Management. “The company fits with Ares’ longstanding private equity strategy of acquiring strong franchises with proven management teams and helping them realize their full potential.”
“We welcome the opportunity to partner with Ares and the strong management team at ATD,” said Jonathan Coslet, Chief Investment Officer at TPG. “We are pleased to offer our limited partners a significant return on their investment while allowing them to continue to participate in the growth of this best in class franchise.”
Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, and Deutsche Bank served as financial advisors and Ropes & Gray LLP served as legal counsel to ATD and TPG. Sullivan & Cromwell LLP served as legal counsel to Ares.
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements. These statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties, and other factors including potential changes in market conditions that could cause actual results to differ materially.
February 3, 2015