20 years after MBO, James helps tyre chain ‘finish the journey’ with £62m sale to Halfords

James Dow of Dow Schofield Watts advised National Tyres and Autocare on its sale to Halfords in a £62m deal. It comes exactly 20 years after James advised on the business on its original buy-out from tyre giant Continental.

Halfords has agreed to pay £62m to acquire National Tyres’ holding company Axle Group – which also includes its sister companies, Viking International and Tyre Expert. The deal will cement Halfords’ position as the UK’s largest vehicle service, maintenance and repair business.

Stockport-based National Tyres has around 1,200 staff and provides national coverage through its 239 garages and 60 mobile tyre fitting vans, while tyre wholesaler Viking is based in Glasgow with eight warehouses located close to the motorway network. Tyre Shopper is an online retailer.

The acquisition, which is expected to complete on 9 December, will put the majority of UK motorists within a 20-minute drive of a Halfords garage. A further investment of about £17m will be made post acquisition on associated capital expenditure and approximately £2m on integration costs.

National Tyres’ selling shareholders are Alan Revie, Joan Revie, John Taylor, Julie Taylor and John Caldwell.

James was working at KPMG Corporate Finance at the time of the original buy-out, before co-founding Dow Schofield Watts in 2002. He says: “I am delighted to have advised the shareholders on the sale of their business to Halfords plc. Their management buy-out was the last transaction I completed at KPMG back in December 2001. It has been a great privilege to finish the journey for the shareholders and advising on them on this very successful exit.”