Investment money is working its way into the automotive space, and not just through acquisitions of auctions and dealerships or software building.
On Tuesday, Generational Equity, a leading mergers and acquisitions advisor for privately held businesses, announced the facilitation of a “significant equity investment” by KT Capital Partners into Dealer Solutions & Design, which plans fixed operations facilities.
According to a news release, the transaction closed on Sept. 30.
Established in 2005, Dealer Solutions & Design (DSD) was one of the first companies to create what investors called the “concept to completion” approach to designing and outfitting fixed operations facilities with shop equipment for new and renovated dealerships.
DSD has now been involved in more than 700 facility projects. DSD is headquartered in Duluth, Ga., and was wholly owned by chief executive officer Alan Terry, president Micheal Bolden and executive vice president Clayton Terry.
KT Capital Partners is a leading private investment firm that invests in “stable, established and growing” companies. The firm works closely with its partner companies and provide capital, operating and strategic expertise, as well as a network of strategic industry contacts.
The partners at KT Capital have extensive backgrounds in oversight of portfolio companies. Collectively, the partners at KT Capital have participated in all capacities from purchase to management to sale of more than 130 companies during their careers.
Jim Tapp and Peter Kacer are the managing directors that led this transaction for KT Capital.
“KT Capital is the perfect fit for DSD. We have significant growth plans so Jim and Peter’s experience in executing an add-on acquisition strategy across the country is critical to that success,” Alan Terry said in the news release.
Kacer added, “We are excited to partner with the DSD executive team on their growth strategy for the coming years. Their unique value-added product and services offering is highly valued by their dealership customers, and their ability to work throughout the U.S. provides significant growth opportunities going forward.”
Generational Equity managing director Don Ho was the lead dealmaker who successfully closed the transaction.
“We are very excited to be a part of the transaction between Dealer Solutions & Design and KT Capital. We are very honored to have helped Alan Terry, Micheal Bolden, and Clayton Terry achieve their goal of partnering with the right team that will help them to continue to grow the business and enhance the company’s offering and services to its customers,” Ho said.
“This transaction will allow Dealer Solutions and Design to be an even more dominant player in the automotive industry, while providing more resources and opportunities for its employees,” Ho continued. “The synergies from this transaction will expand DSD’s penetration into new geographic and customer markets, as well as provide the ability to cross pollinate with KT Capital’s portfolio companies to improve operational efficiencies and the entire customer experience. We are excited about the potential and future of Dealer Solutions & Design.”
The investment in automotive will be the central theme of the inaugural National Auto Venture & Investors Conference (NAVIcon), which takes place Nov. 18 at Red Rock in Las Vegas as part of the Used Car Week conference series. More information is avaiable here.
Source : AutoFinanceNews
