LKQ Corp. Acquires German Parts Distributor for Estimated $1.76 Billion
LKQ Corp. has signed a agreement to acquire Stahlgruber GmbH from Stahlgruber Otto Gruber AG for approximately $1.76 billion. Headquartered in Germany, Stahlgruber is a leading European wholesale distributor of aftermarket spare parts for passenger cars, tools, capital equipment and accessories with operations in Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Italy, Slovenia, and Croatia with further sales to Switzerland.
LKQ Corp. is the holding company of Keystone Automotive Distribution.
Stahlgruber’s facilities include 228 sales centers, six warehouses, and an approximately 128,000 square meter advanced logistics center that is strategically located in Germany, serving more than 100,000 professional clients and offering over 500,000 SKUs.
LKQ expects to complete the transaction late in the first quarter or early in the second quarter of 2018, subject to required regulatory approvals.
“This transformative acquisition solidifies LKQ as a leading Pan-European aftermarket mechanical parts distributor, and further enhances our global diversification strategy,” said Dominick Zarcone, president and CEO of LKQ. “Stahlgruber has a history of delivering above-market growth and its stellar industry reputation is an ideal fit with our culture; we are extremely proud to welcome the approximately 6,600. Stahlgruber employees to the LKQ family. Importantly, we believe that our combined efforts will create tremendous long-term value for our customers and stockholders and growth opportunities for our collective team members.”
“Stahlgruber will create a contiguous footprint and serve as an additional strategic hub for our European operations, allowing for continued improvement in procurement, logistics and infrastructure optimization,” said John S. Quinn, CEO and managing director of LKQ Europe. “The LKQ Europe management team and I look forward to working with Stahlgruber’s management team and leveraging our combined best practices to maximize the benefits of scale across the continent.”
Stahlgruber’s 2017 annual revenue is estimated to be approximately $1.88 billion.
LKQ intends to finance the acquisition with the proceeds from planned debt offerings, borrowings under its existing revolving credit facility and the direct issuance to Stahlgruber’s owner of 8,055,569 newly issued shares of LKQ common stock. As of Dec. 1, LKQ had approximately $1.4 billion of available borrowing capacity under its recently amended credit facility.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse are acting as financial advisors, Baker McKenzie (Germany) is acting as M&A counsel, and K&L Gates (Chicago) is acting as U.S. securities counsel, to LKQ Corp.. Deutsche Bank is serving as the exclusive financial advisor, and Hengeler Mueller is providing legal counsel, to Stahlgruber’s owner.
