Service King to go national with Auto Body World acquisition

Texas-based Service King Collision Repair is acquiring Auto Body World and its eight large-scale, high-volume locations throughout metro Phoenix and Casa Grande, Ariz. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The transaction is expected to close in July 2012. By joining Service King, Auto Body World will become a part of the third largest collision repair company in North America with 48 Texas locations throughout the Dallas, Ft. Worth, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin areas.

Service King’s expansion across Texas over the last three years has taken Service King from the sixth to the third largest collision repair company in North America, doubling revenue and location count, the company said.

“We welcome our new teammates in Arizona to the Service King family,” said Service King’s President, Chris Abraham. “We’re excited about the opportunity here. Arizona is special because it’s our first venture outside of Texas, but it’s not our last.

“Service King is committed to continuing Auto Body World’s long tradition of excellent customer service and quality repairs with good relationships in the insurance industry. We look forward to adding Auto Body World’s talented teammates and skilled technicians to our base of nearly 1,400 Service King teammates throughout Texas,” added Abraham.

"We are very excited about Auto Body World joining the Service King Team,” said Mark Turner, Auto Body World’s President. “Both companies believe that we’re a great match for each other, in that we share very common cultures, and while Service King brings national insurance relationships and financial strength, Auto Body World brings dominance in a new market, with a strong operations team and platform for rapid growth.”

Cathy Bonner, CEO of Service King, said, “In DFW and Houston, Service King has been recognized as one of the “best places to work” by the Dallas and Houston Business Journals, and we plan to bring our same level of health, retirement, and career benefits to all new teammates in Arizona.”

Service King Collision Repair Centers was founded 36 years ago with one location in Dallas, Texas by Founder and Chairman of the Board, Eddie Lennox. Now, with 23 Dallas-Fort Worth locations, 12 Houston locations, 8 San Antonio, and 5 Austin, Texas locations, Service King continues with plans to grow the company nationally.

“The reason Service King is one of the fastest growing U.S,-based collision repair companies is because of the team we have in place," Lennox said. "The people in this company focus on what’s most important and take pride in providing the best service and quality collision repairs, while caring for our customers.”