Nearly all of the most-read news items on aftermarketNews this week share a common theme: M&A. 

From the news on Monday that Affinia Group was spinning off its brake businesses to Fisher Auto Parts’ acquisition of Brownlee Distributing, significant changes were afoot this week in the automotive aftermarket industry.

In addition to the news from Fisher and Affinia, AutoZone announced in conjunction with its first quarter sales report that it is acquiring online retailer Autoanything.com. And, Eaton Corp. announced that its merger with Cooper Industries is now complete. The new company is now known as Eaton Corporate plc.

Last in our roundup of the week’s top news, we learn that Alliance shareholders and channel partners enjoyed a surprise visit from the Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders at the group’s annual winter meeting, held last week in Aventura, Fla.

Stay tuned: Next week, aftermarketNews.com will present the ninth annual AMN Year in Review series, presented in four special afternoon issues on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.