Icahn Enterprises L.P., the parent company of Icahn Automotive Group LLC, has acquired American Driveline Systems, a franchisor of automotive service shops with about 680 locations in the U.S. and Canada.
American Driveline Systems is the franchisor of AAMCO Transmissions and Total Car Care and Cottman Transmission and Total Car Care.
“The acquisition of American Driveline Systems is the next step in building out our national automotive service network,” says Carl Icahn, Chairman of Icahn Enterprises. “I believe that the automotive aftermarket service industry is undergoing secular change driven by increased vehicle complexity, advances in technology, as well as the growth of automotive fleets, including ride-sharing and car-sharing networks.
"These changes will continue to offer, in my opinion, extremely attractive and unique investment opportunities. With our presence throughout the automotive aftermarket value chain, Icahn Enterprises is positioned to capitalize on these trends.”
The leaders of Icahn's automotive business have been clear about those opportunities before. (Icahn and Pep Boys Look to Make a Big Statement in Detroit.) Daniel Ninivaggi, CEO of Icahn Automotive Group LLC, says the growth will continue.
“Icahn Automotive Group continues to pursue an aggressive strategy of strengthening our full-service automotive repair capabilities, with the ability to leverage a broad national footprint and what we believe will be the most efficient operating model in the industry. We are excited to work with the ADS management team as well as the AAMCO and Cottman franchisees to capitalize on the many growth opportunities we see ahead.”
Here's a roundup of the Icahn Automotive Group portfolio:
Pep Boys — Manny, Moe & Jack
Auto Plus
Just Brakes
Precision Tune Auto Care
American Driveline Systems, the franchisor of AAMCO and Cottman
In addition, the parent company, Icahn Enterprises, also owns Federal-Mogul Motorparts.
With this latest acquisition, Icahn Automotive operates approximately 1,900 owned and franchised service locations in 49 states plus Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, and several international locations. (In June 2017, acquisitions pushed Icahn over the 1,000 store mark.)
Icahn acquired American Driveline Systems from Transom Capital Group, which had acquired the company in January 2017.
