Seattle Emerges as Top Market for Collision Consolidation
Aug. 2, 2024
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Focus Advisors recently reported that the Seattle metropolitan area remains one of the top three markets nationally for collision consolidation activity.
The Seattle area has seen some of the most fervent consolidation in recent years and is now home to Caliber, Classic Collision, Crash Champions, Gerber, Puget Collision, and Quality Collision. The most recent acquisition in the area was Crash Champions’ acquisition of Juanita Collision Center in Kirkland last week.
Focus Advisors Senior Associate, Madeleine Roberts Rich, commented: “The enduring attractiveness of the Seattle market, despite the degree of consolidation, was one of the highlights we mentioned in our Year-in-Review article in 2023 and will remain a main point of our forthcoming Mid-Year Review for 2024. Last year, the Seattle area tied for second place in terms of the number of collision repair transactions that took place there, despite ranking 15th nationally in terms of population. Consolidators see major economic and population growth, encouraging them to keep making aggressive offers.”
Linda and Rod Dunshee, the former owners of Juanita Collision Center and Focus Advisors clients, were pleased with this dynamic. Linda commented, “Given all the acquisitions we’d seen around us in the Seattle area in recent years, Rod and I thought we might have missed our window of opportunity to get a strong offer for our business. Once Focus Advisors brought our deal to market, we were pleasantly mistaken. We were able to court strong offers from several buyers. We chose Crash Champions because the deal achieved our goals for a business valuation, for enhancing the value of our real estate, and for providing professional opportunities for our employees.”
Focus Advisors President Chris Lane added: “In recent years we’ve been able to represent Seattle independents such as Parsons-Middleton, Cornforth-Campbell, Collision Clinic, and Juanita Collision Center as they have secured successful exits. We’ve seen firsthand how competitive it has been for consolidators to grow their Seattle footprints. It was no surprise to us that Quality Collision made its Seattle debut earlier this month with its acquisition of Paramount Centre in Fife.”
Using its proprietary database of transaction activity, Focus Advisors has provided the following image of the transactions that have taken place in the last three years.
In addition to acquisitions by Crash Champions (Juanita Collision Center and Brady’s Auto Body) and Quality Collision (Paramount Centre), other transactions year-to-date have been by Puget Collision, which bought Fix Auto Ken Miller, a two-shop MSO, Fix Auto Black Lake, and CARSTAR Johns Body Shop. Meanwhile, Gerber opened a new location in Sumner, Washington.
Focus Advisors is an advisory firm specializing in the collision industry. They work with multi-shop operators (MSOs) with annual revenues between $10 million and $50 million, assisting owners in achieving optimal value through strategic exits. Unlike traditional business brokers or large investment banks, Focus Advisors focuses exclusively on collision repair, providing them with unique insights into value, interest, and timing opportunities.
