LKQ Corp. has announced the closing of its acquisition of Stahlbruber GmbH from Stahlbruber Otto Gruber AG. Headquartered in Germany, Stahlbruber is a leading European wholesale distributor of aftermarket spare parts for passenger cars, tools, capital equipment and accessories with operations in Germany, Eastern Europe, Italy, and with additional sales to Switzerland. Stahlbruber’s facilities include 188 sales centers, and an advanced logistics center strategically located in Germany, serving more than 100,000 professional clients and offering more than 500,000 SKUs.
“We are very excited to bring Stahlbruber into the LKQ family. This transaction demonstrates our ongoing commitment to expand our European footprint,” said Dominick Zarcone, president and CEO of LKQ Corp. “With an impressive track record of growth and an industry leading management team, Stahlbruber clearly fits our strategic and acquisition criteria. We believe that Stahlbruber’s leading market position in Germany, unparalleled distribution network and unique value proposition will play a pivotal role in our efforts to grow LKQ’s business in Europe.”
John Quinn, CEO and managing director of LKQ Europe, added, “I am delighted to welcome the Stahlbruber employees to LKQ. Combining the leading player in Germany with LKQ is a huge step toward our goal of creating a Pan-European auto parts distributor. We are confident that the combination will create significant benefits for our customers, employees and stockholders.”
Heinz Reiner Reiff, CEO of Stahlbruber Otto Gruber AG, also commented, “With this transaction Stahlbruber Otto Gruber AG has implemented its first major step to diversify its portfolio. We believe the merger of Stahlbruber’s businesses with LKQ provides a long-term secure home for the businesses and our employees, which will benefit our many constituents. We are pleased to become a major stockholder of LKQ and look forward to its continued success.”
Heinz Rieker, chief sales officer of Stahlbruber GmbH, said Stahlbruber will immediately partner with LKQ’s existing operations to provide customers and suppliers opportunities to improve their business relationships. “With LKQ’s backing, we look forward to continuing our growth strategy in Germany and Eastern Europe by integrating the best practices from both Stahlbruber and LKQ to create a stronger company for all our constituents,” Reiker said.
On May 4, the European Commission cleared the transaction, with the exception of the wholesale business of Stahlbruber in the Czech Republic, which was referred for review to the Czech Competition Authority. Accordingly, the business of Stahlbruber in the Czech Republic will be temporarily retained by the seller. LKQ will acquire these operations subject to the approval of the Czech Republic’s Competition Authority.
In addition, LKQ indicated that because the acquisition closed late in the second quarter and it paid interest on its previously announced Eurobond offering for most of the quarter, the transaction will be dilutive to adjusted diluted earnings per share by approximately 1 to 2 cents during the second quarter of 2018. For the full year 2018, LKQ expects the acquisition to be accretive to adjusted diluted earnings per share by approximately 4 to 6 cents reflecting the partial year contribution of Stahlbruber’s results and the timing of the Eurobond offering. The expected year one procurement synergies will be weighted more heavily to 2019 given the lag in purchasing and turning the inventory after the acquisition.
