Oct. 29, 2018—ABRA Auto Body of America has finalized its acquisition of California MSO Cooks Collision. ABRA's purchase of Cook's 38 locations was officially completed on Friday, though employees had been notified of the pending merger in late September.
The acquisition of Cooks is ABRA's largest single transaction in the company's 34-year history. And, the Cooks locations will be ABRA's first stores in the state of California. ABRA now has more than 390 locations in 28 states.
"Expanding into California is a big step for us," said Jim Kessler, ABRA's chief operating officer. "Adding a large MSO with a strong reputation like Cooks gives ABRA an immediate brand presence, and opens up opportunities for further growth in the region."
ABRA first entered the west coast region in 2013, with acquisitions in Washington and Oregon. And, following the acquisition of Cooks, ABRA will now have more than 90 locations in the region.
The new ABRA locations will be known as Cooks Collision, an ABRA company for the foreseeable future. Cooks has 800 employees, and Kessler said ABRA would ideally like to retain each of them in the wake of the acquisition.
Cooks Collision had been family owned for nearly four decades. Nevertheless, Cooks president and co-CEO Rick Wood said his leadership group is "thrilled" to now fall under the ABRA umbrella.
