Speedemissions, Inc, a vehicle emissions testing and safety inspections company operating 36 stores in the Atlanta, Houston, St. Louis and Salt Lake City markets and developer of CARbonga and CARbonga-SRI, the automobile diagnostic iPhone apps, has acquired seven emission testing stores in the greater Atlanta, Ga. marketplace.
The stores are being acquired from Auto Emissions Express and JK Express Emissions and are part of Speedemissions' overall strategic expansion plan to become one of the nation's leading vehicle emissions testing and repair companies.
The transaction, which closed on Oct. 25, brings the number of vehicle emission testing stores that Speedemissions owns and operates across the country to 43. A significant part of this acquisition is that it allows the company to enter new geographical trade locations within greater Atlanta with five of the stores. The two remaining locations will expand the company's brand in already established locales.
Rich Parlontieri, President and CEO of Speedemissions stated, "We're excited to be able to make this acquisition, as it fits perfectly with the company's core growth initiatives. We are optimistic that adding these seven retail stores will result in improved revenues for us in 2014. Plus, it gets us into our sixth market within the thirteen county emissions testing areas of greater Atlanta."
"Both Auto Emissions Express and JK Express Emissions have been providing superior service in their respective areas for some time and over the years have built a large and loyal customer base. We're looking forward to providing an exceptional experience for both existing and new customers as we anticipate delivering several additional value-added services and products to our retail stores over the next 12 months," added Parlontieri.
Currently, there are approximately 250 million light duty vehicles on the road and over 85 percent of these vehicles are outside the manufacturer's warranty. According to the recent study released by BB&T Capital Markets, the automotive aftermarket investment banking and research firm, the automobile aftermarket is an estimated $307 billion industry, comprised of the $231 billion light vehicle aftermarket and the $76 billion medium and heavy duty aftermarket. The research also showed that, historically, vehicles in operation have exhibited consistent growth despite wide fluctuation in new vehicle sales and economic conditions. In addition, the research found a clear trend toward an aging vehicle fleet that has accelerated as a result of fewer new vehicle sales and consumers maintaining their vehicles. As of 2012, the average age of cars and light trucks reached 11.3 years, which compares favorably to the aftermarket "sweet spot" for repair of 8+ years. A significant and growing sector of the vehicle aftermarket is the emissions testing industry. Americans currently spend over $2.5 billion in emissions testing in the 32 states (and District of Columbia) that are required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to have vehicle emissions testing. In 24 of these states, testing can be conducted by independently-owned businesses such as Speedemissions, Inc., a leading vehicle testing and safety inspections company, now operating 43 stores across the country.
