MidOcean Partners, a middle market private equity firm focused on the business services and consumer sectors, has acquired FullSpeed Automotive from CenterOak Partners. FullSpeed is an aftermarket services platform offering oil changes, tire sales and rotations, brake services, car washes and other ancillary services through multiple brand formats including under the Grease Monkey and SpeeDee brands. The company has a broad geographic footprint of nearly 600 franchised and company-owned locations. MidOcean Partners plans to continue the company’s aggressive growth plan through comprehensive organic initiatives and strategic M&A. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
FullSpeed Automotive was founded in 1978 and has nearly 600 automotive centers across the U.S. as well as internationally. The company’s brands include: Grease Monkey, SpeeDee, American Lubefast, and Uncle Ed’s Oil Shoppe. The company’s Retail Operations division also operates Havoline xpress lube locations. In addition to quick lube oil changes, FullSpeed Automotive provides a variety of other services, such as tire rotations, brake services, suspension repairs, and minor electrical-system repairs.
Daniel Penn, managing director at MidOcean, said, “MidOcean has been evaluating the auto aftermarket services space for a number of years and is thrilled to partner with FullSpeed’s exceptional management team for the company’s next phase of growth. We believe FullSpeed will continue to experience strong growth from its existing locations with industry leading customer service and robust performance metrics. We also plan to support the company’s existing aggressive M&A strategy, as well as to drive franchise development in new and existing markets. Our focus in this sector has been in partnership with our MidOcean Executive Board member Marc Graham who brings over 35 years of expertise in this industry, and we are pleased to have Marc involved as Chairman of the Board of the Company going forward.”
Graham joined MidOcean as an executive board member in 2020 as a dedicated resource to MidOcean’s efforts in the auto aftermarket sector. Graham is an accomplished auto aftermarket operating executive with over 35 years of senior management experience in high volume automotive consumer products and services industries. Graham’s prior experience includes roles as CEO of Take 5 Oil Change, a rapidly growing oil change business under his leadership, and president of Jiffy Lube International. Graham will be an integral member of the MidOcean-backed FullSpeed team, and will serve as chairman of the board of the Company.
“I’m thrilled to partner with the FullSpeed management team and am excited about the opportunities to drive growth alongside MidOcean,” said Graham. “FullSpeed has best-in-class operations across a number of different brands with a wide variety of service offerings for its customers. We plan to focus on maintaining these industry leading service levels, while also accelerating new units. We are looking forward to executing this strategic plan closely with the FullSpeed team.”
“We are excited to partner with MidOcean to drive outsized growth for the FullSpeed platform,” said Kevin Kormondy, CEO of FullSpeed. “MidOcean has an impressive track record in executing transformational growth, and they bring deep expertise in the auto aftermarket that will enhance our ability to better serve our customers, our employees, and our franchise partners, while also providing support for the Company to expand into additional markets.”
Honigman LLP acted as legal adviser to MidOcean. Harris Williams served as financial adviser, and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP acted as legal adviser to FullSpeed Automotive.
