Atlas Autoservice acquires 18 Bridgestone-owned Irish First Stop depots
Atlas Autoservice, a leading tyre and car servicing group in Dublin, has grown from nine to 27 locations in a very significant expansion of its business with the acquisition of Bridgestone’s 18 Irish retail depots.
The 18 Bridgestone depots, operating under the ‘First Stop’ and ‘Fast Fit’ brands, will come together with Atlas Autoservice’s existing nine outlets to create the largest chain of tyre and car servicing outlets in Dublin.
The acquisition will more than double the number of employees at the tyre and car servicing group and will significantly strengthen its position in the automotive aftermarket in the Dublin area while also adding regional depots to the Group for the first time. These are located in Cork, Galway, Drogheda, Waterford and Wexford.
All the acquired outlets will continue to operate under their existing brand names at this time.
Atlas Autoservice says that this deal is a “major step toward achieving its ambition of becoming the number one choice for motorists in Ireland”, enhancing its ability to provide “exceptional service and support” to motorists in Dublin and in other regional areas.
The McKillen family have been in the industry for three generations, spanning their business in the motor trade over six decades. This deal also sees many DC Exhaust Depots return to McKillen family ownership.
Commenting on today’s news to TyreTrade.ie and the Tyre Trade Journal, Chloe McKillen, managing director, Atlas Autoservice, said: “The acquisition of Bridgestone’s 18 depots in Ireland facilitates our ambition to become the number one choice for Irish motorists across the country.
“This expansion will more than double the size of our family business and enable our growing team to provide the highest quality of service to new and existing customers in Dublin and other cities and towns across Ireland.
“Our focus has been, and will always be, on our people and we believe that this deal presents great opportunities for the growth and development of our team in the years ahead.
“The chain of depots we are acquiring includes several original DC Exhaust sites. This was a business founded by my grandfather in the 1970s, so there is a deep sense of pride in bringing this business back under family ownership and into the Atlas Group.
“We are delighted to cement our strong relationship with Bridgestone by entering into a partnership which will allow us to sell its premium tyres through our network of 27 depots and grow its market share in the years to come.
“Through our continued focus on our people, our customer service and our value, we look forward to this expansion and to serving more Irish motorists, every day.”
Davy Corporate Finance is acting as financial advisor to Bridgestone and Eversheds Sutherland is its legal counsel. DLT is acting as financial advisor to Atlas with Gartlan Furey and Philip Lee providing legal counsel.
