From Tire Review

North America’s largest independent tire distributor has a new owner as equity company TPG Capital is acquiring American Tire Distributors (ATD) in a $1.3 billion deal.

The deal is expected to close by mid-2010, and additional terms of the deal were not announced.

The sale effectively ended ATD’s previously announced plan to go public with a stock sale. In February, the company had filed the necessary paperwork with the SEC, with plans raise some $230 million by trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ATD. The sale to TPG Capital will end ATD’s ownership by a consortium of Investcorp, Berkshire Partners and Greenbriar Equity Group, which bought ATD in 2005 for an estimated $500 million.

ATD, in its fiscal 2009 10-K filing, reported sales of $2.17 billion, up from 2008’s $1.96 billion. Net profits came in at $4.93 million for 2009, down from a profit of $9.67 million in 2008, the company reported.

ATD owns and operates 83 distribution centers and service dealers in 37 states.

“This is an exciting time in the evolution of our company,” said William Berry, ATD president and CEO. “We welcome our new partners at TPG, who share the same vision we do for the continued growth of the American Tire Distributors brand as significant growth opportunities remain and we continue to seize opportunities such as geographic expansion and online sales.”