Howard Basford changes hands in £5.8m deal
CRASH repair group Nationwide has acquired the North West body shop chain Howard Basford in a deal worth £5.8m.
The firm, based at Ledsham on the Wirral, has a chain of eight bodyshops at Accrington, Birkenhead, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Liverpool, Manchester, Mold and Warrington.
The firm generated revenues of around £16m and an operating profit of £500,000 in the year to December 2012.
Nationwide has acquired the holding company Auto Think Ltd from founding directors. Nicholas Orr, Tracy Howard and Neil Kirk, who will stay with the business. It is paying £4.1m in cash and a further £1.75m based on performance targets.
Tracy Howard, chairman of Howard Basford, said: “The consolidation trend in our industry is becoming increasingly clear and we want to be at the heart of the coming changes. Nationwide is the long standing market leader and it is exciting to be able to share resources and further evolve customer propositions. Both organisations have built strong teams and this deal offers a new stimulus and we are looking forward to combining our strengths.”
