EDMONTON, AB, Feb. 27,
2023 /CNW/ - AutoCanada Inc. ("AutoCanada" or the
"Company") (TSX: ACQ), a multi-location North American automobile
dealership group, announced today that it has acquired DCCHail, a
paintless dent repair ("PDR") company specializing in the insurance
claim management process and repairing hail damaged vehicles, with
a national presence, including Canada's largest hail repair facility in
Calgary, Alberta.
"We're excited to add this well-managed hail damage repair
operation to our network, providing a vertical integration
opportunity that will allow us to take greater control of the
repair process and expand this business across markets in
Canada and the U.S. by leveraging
our current dealership, parts & service and collision centre
platforms," said Executive Chairman, Paul
Antony. "We are also pleased to welcome the high quality
DCCHail team to the AutoCanada family and we look forward to
continuing its legacy into the future."
Operating for over 20 years, DCCHail is one of Canada's leading PDR service providers,
specializing in insurance claim management and repairing hail
damaged vehicles. DCCHail's responsive business model provides the
expertise, manpower, and professionalism to manage catastrophic
hail losses throughout Canada. DCCHail has revolutionized the
PDR industry with its proprietary technology DCCScan. DCCScan
can inspect and document automotive hail damage under an average of
five seconds per scan. This greatly increases the efficiency
and accuracy of the hail repair process. DCCScan
integrates with DCCHail's developed PDRMAX, a unique proprietary
software for processing hail estimates and managing the hail repair
process. The company offers PDR services to National
Insurance Partners (Direct Repair Agreements), collision centres,
and auto dealerships (fleet inventory repairs). The current
management team will continue to operate the business going
forward. Apart from continuing to strengthen the operation's
performance, the acquisition unlocks additional growth
opportunities, including the potential to expand the business by
leveraging AutoCanada's dealership, parts & service and
collision platforms.
Financial Highlights
The acquired company generates in excess of $15 million in annual revenue. The transaction
was funded from a drawdown of the Company's credit facility and is
expected to be accretive to 2023 earnings.
About AutoCanada
AutoCanada is a leading North American multi-location automobile
dealership group currently operating 82 franchised dealerships,
comprised of 28 brands, in eight provinces in Canada as well as a group in Illinois, USA. AutoCanada currently sells
Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, FIAT, Alfa Romeo, Chevrolet, GMC,
Buick, Cadillac, Ford, Infiniti,
Nissan, Hyundai, Subaru, Audi, Volkswagen, Kia, Mazda,
Mercedes-Benz, BMW, MINI, Volvo, Toyota, Lincoln, Acura, Honda and Porsche branded
vehicles. In addition, AutoCanada's Canadian Operations segment
currently operates 3 used vehicle dealerships and 1 used vehicle
auction business supporting the Used Digital Retail Division, 11
RightRide division locations, and 10 stand-alone collision centres
within our group of 25 collision centres. In 2021, our dealerships
sold approximately 86,000 vehicles and processed over 800,000
service and collision repair orders in our 1,303 service bays
generating revenue in excess of $4
billion.
Additional information about AutoCanada Inc. is available at
www.sedar.com and the Company's website at www.autocan.ca.
Certain statements contained in this press release are
forward-looking statements and information (collectively,
"forward-looking statements") within the meaning of the applicable
Canadian securities legislation. We hereby provide cautionary
statements identifying important factors that could cause our
actual results to differ materially from those projected in these
forward-looking statements. Any statements that express, or involve
discussions as to, expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives,
assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always,
through the use of words or phrases such as "will likely result",
"are expected to", "will continue", "is anticipated", "projection",
"vision", "goals", "objective", "target", "schedules", "outlook",
"anticipate", "expect", "estimate", "could", "should", "plan",
"seek", "may", "intend", "likely", "will", "believe" and similar
expressions) are not historical facts and are forward looking. In
particular, this press release contains forward-looking statements
with respect to, among other things, future operating results of
the acquired business, the successful integration of the acquired
business into AutoCanada's business, and the growth of the acquired
business.
The forward-looking statements included in this press release
are not guarantees of future performance and should not be unduly
relied upon. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements
are based on current expectations, estimates and projections that,
by their nature, forward-looking statements involve a number of
known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual
results to differ materially from those anticipated and described
in the forward-looking statements. These known and unknown risks
and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: future operating
results, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our operations,
events that interrupt vehicle or parts supply to AutoCanada's OEMs,
financial condition and liquidity and the duration of such impacts;
potential changes in the regulatory and legislative environment;
volatility in interest and tax rates; operating risks inherent in
the automotive retail industry; and changes in general economic
conditions including the capital and credit markets.
Forward-looking statements involve estimates and assumptions
and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors some of
which are beyond our control and difficult to predict. Accordingly,
actual results or outcomes may differ materially from those
expressed in the forward-looking statements. In particular, in
presenting its forward-looking statements, AutoCanada has made
assumptions respecting, among other things the future operating
results of the acquired business, the successful integration of the
acquired business into AutoCanada's platform and the growth
opportunities at the acquired business.
AutoCanada cautions that the foregoing list of assumptions,
risks and uncertainties is not exhaustive. The Company's Annual
Information Form and other documents filed with securities
regulatory authorities (accessible through the SEDAR website at
www.sedar.com) describe the risks, material assumptions and other
factors that could influence actual results and which are
incorporated herein by reference. The forward-looking statements
contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof
and AutoCanada assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise
them to reflect new events or circumstances, except as may be
required pursuant to applicable securities laws.
SOURCE AutoCanada Inc.