Focus Advisors and Veritas Advisors Merge

Focus Advisors and Veritas Advisors are merging two of the most respected M&A firms in the automotive collision repair industry, according to a news release. 

Focus CEO David Roberts and Veritas Founder John Walcher, together with their teams, bring more than 70 years of experience founding, growing, funding, and advising automotive aftermarket companies. 

“This merger is about multiplying impact,” Walcher said. “Together, we provide unmatched strategic guidance to clients navigating today’s fast-moving M&A environment in all segments of the aftermarket repair industry – from collision to mechanical to heavy-duty vehicles.” 

The combined firm promises to deliver a new dimension of expertise and capacity to better serve automotive service companies seeking to grow and sell. 

The combination expands Focus Advisors’ capabilities across three important value dimensions: 

1. Enhanced Capital Solutions: Broader and deeper experience serving clients with recapitalizations, debt and equity growth capital, and complex exit advice. 
2. Strategic Value Creation: A dedicated growth program that uses an extensive operator network, financial expertise, real estate experience, and market intelligence to create clear strategies that maximize eventual exit outcomes. 
3. Expanded Market Reach: Extension of Focus’ proven methodologies and transaction capabilities into adjacent aftermarket sectors including auto mechanical service and heavy-duty collision. 

As executive vice president, managing director, and equity holder, Walcher will join Roberts and President Chris Lane on the Focus Advisors senior management team. Roberts established Focus Advisors in 2003, after serving as co-founder and chairman of Caliber Collision Centers. 

Lane has more than 10 years of automotive M&A experience, preceded by a successful career in business management and consulting. Walcher founded Veritas Advisors in 2009, after holding senior M&A positions at Caliber Collision and two Fortune 500 companies. Combined, the team has advised on over 120 automotive services deals including acquisitions, capital raises, joint ventures, and divestitures involving small MSOs to some of the largest operators in the industry. 

“We’re not just facilitating transactions—we’re helping clients anticipate and successfully adapt to the future of both the collision repair industry and the entire automotive aftermarket,” Roberts said. “With this merger, we’re expanding our ability to serve more and larger clients with unparalleled insight, reach, and value creation.”