GB Auto buys Goodguys Tire, adds 9 stores in N. Calif.

FRESNO, Calif. — GB Auto Service Inc. is closing in on its 200th location.

The portfolio company of Greenbriar Equity Group L.P. has acquired Goodguys Tires & Auto Repair, with nine locations in Northern California. Cost of the transaction was not disclosed.

Fresno-based Goodguys, founded in 1976 by Pete Shubin, operates five stores in Fresno as well as locations in Clovis, Sanger, Visalia and Madera. The deal brings to 192 the number of stores now under the GB Auto umbrella, including 44 in California.

"For 45 years, Goodguys has built an exceptional name for itself as a trusted source for auto service, tire repair and replacement," GB Auto Service CEO Frank Kneller said.

"We're honored to have them join our growing family of brands and look forward to helping them continue to flourish throughout the Fresno region."

Goodguys President Scott Shubin said the transition to GB Auto's ownership "will help fuel the growth of our brand, while strengthening the uncompromisingly exceptional service that our customers have come to rely on over these past four-plus decades."

GB Auto, which began to operate in December 2017, has added 55 locations over the last nine months, including:

• Three ServiceOne Automotive locations in the Houston area (December);
• Three Reliable Automotive locations in the Austin, Texas, area (November);
• Seven Tate Boys Tire & Service locations in Oklahoma (September);
• 32 Sun Devil Auto and Sun Auto Service locations in the Phoenix and Houston metro areas and Nevada (July); and
• 10 Louetta Automotive & Tire Service locations in Houston (July).

GB already operates Ramona Tire & Service Centers, which serve the Inland Empire.

GB will retain the Goodguys workforce of approximately 100 and continue to operate the dealership under its banner.

Mr. Kneller said GB Auto — the seventh largest independent tire retailer in the U.S., according to Tire Business research — hopes to reach 300 locations or more over the next year.

GB Auto does not disclose revenue, but based on sales of some of the firm's acquisitions prior to being bought, the business' proforma annual revenue could exceed $300 million.

"As we have scale, ... we feel like we've got the size to take on more," Mr. Kneller told Tire Business earlier this year. "We're looking to grow even faster through acquisitions, and we still have a very robust pipeline of greenfields. We're going to get back to that same store growth, too."

GB is targeting its original investment region: the South/Southwest, with "huge" opportunities," he said, in Texas (Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston), Arizona (Phoenix) and Nevada, along with Southern California.

In a separate transaction in early March, Greenbriar Equity branched into the quick lube segment, acquiring Oil Changer Inc., a leading California-based oil change business doing business as Oil Changers.