others making money in auto parts..., page-4

MotorOne ’returning to the market’Bridget CarterBridget Carter8:00PMJuly 23, 2024The Australian Business Network0 commentsMotorOne has been described as a leading business-to-business distributor of aftermarket products and services to Australian dealerships.MotorOne has been described as a leading business-to-business distributor of aftermarket products and services to Australian dealerships.Quadrant Private Equity is believed to be bringing its automotive products business, MotorOne, back to the market but the talk is that this time it’s Macquarie Capital on the ticket.MotorOne has been described as a leading business-to-business distributor of aftermarket products and services to Australian dealerships.It has had a strong position in Australia after growing market share and expanding into new channels.The Sydney-based private equity firm moved to sell MotorOne in 2020 through Miles Advisory – the same firm that originally sold the business to Quadrant.Then, Quadrant was believed to looking for a price of at least $600m when it was generating about $40m of earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation per annum.Market experts believe that the business may have some appeal to Bapcor, but it’s likely to be private equity that lines up.GUD would likely side step the option, while O’Reilly Auto Parts was more retail dominated and would not suit MotorOne.Quadrant bought MotorOne from private equity firm Navis Capital in 2016 for $300m when it was then called WorldMark.Bapcor and Archer Capital at the time were both underbidders.The asking price was around 10 times its EBITDA that were somewhere about $35m through to $45m.Some market experts believe it is likely the business has since doubled its EBITDA.Previously, Sojitz in Japan had shown some interest when it was on offer around 2020.When MotorOne was sold in 2016, key members of management retained equity in the business.The pitch in the last sale for MotorOne, founded by John Weekley, is its distribution network with high barriers to entry, consistent earnings and defensive nature in a growing sector.As well as Navis Capital, CPE Capital, Affinity Equity Partners and Archer Capital had previously looked at the business.Pacific Equity Partners also looked at the motor vehicle product provider last time around when it was for sale.According to IBISWorld, the number of motor vehicles is forecast to grow steadily in line with population growth, and growth in disposable incomes will contribute to greater consumer demand for motor vehicle parts.Quadrant is moving to offload MotorOne as it also considers possible sale of Darrell Lea owner RiteBite Group and Affinity Education.Bridget CarterBridget CarterDataRoom EditorBridget Carter has worked as a writer and editor for The Australian’s DataRoom column since it was launched in 2013, focusing on capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, private equity and investment banking. She has been a journalist for more than 18 years, covering a broad range of events and topics, including high profile court cases and crimes, natural disasters, social issues and company news.