GREENWOOD, Colo. — Private equity firm CenterOak Partners L.L.C. has sold FullSpeed Automotive — the franchisor of the Grease Monkey and SpeeDee Oil Change brands — to another private equity firm, MidOcean Partners, for an undisclosed amount.
Dallas-based CenterOak Partners has owned FullSpeed Automotive since November 2017 calling the Greenwood-based company at that time the "ideal investment platform to accelerate both organic growth and footprint growth through acquisitions" in the automotive aftermarket.
MidOcean is a New York-based alternative asset manager that specializes in middle-market private-equity and alternative-credit investments. It was founded in 2003.
In addition to the Grease Monkey and SpeeDee Oil Change & Auto Service brands, FullSpeed supports the American Lubefast and Uncle Ed's Oil Shoppe brands and operates over 50 Havoline xpress lube locations. FullSpeed's brands encompass over 600 locations nationwide.
FullSpeed/Grease Monkey bought the SpeeDee Oil franchise business from TBC Corp. in February 2017 for an undisclosed price.
"MidOcean has been evaluating the auto aftermarket services space for a number of years and is thrilled to partner with FullSpeed's exceptional management team for the company's next phase of growth," MidOcean Managing Director Daniel Penn said.
"We believe FullSpeed will continue to experience strong growth from its existing locations with industry-leading customer service and robust performance metrics. We also plan to support the company's existing aggressive M&A strategy, as well as to drive franchise development in new and existing markets."
MidOcean's move is tied to the hiring earlier this year of Marc Graham, who brings over 35 years of expertise in the automotive aftermarket industry, including time as CEO of Take 5 Oil Change and president of Jiffy Lube International. An executive board member of MidOcean, Mr. Graham will become chairman of FullSpeed.
Mr. Graham said FullSpeed has "best-in-class" operations across a number of different brands with a wide variety of service offerings for its customers.
"We plan to focus on maintaining these industry-leading service levels, while also accelerating new units. We are looking forward to executing this strategic plan closely with the FullSpeed team," he said.
FullSpeed CEO Kevin Kormondy said: "We are excited to partner with MidOcean to drive outsized growth for the FullSpeed platform.
"MidOcean has an impressive track record in executing transformational growth, and they bring deep expertise in the auto aftermarket that will enhance our ability to better serve our customers, our employees and our franchise partners, while also providing support for the company to expand into additional markets."
Honigman L.L.P. was legal adviser to MidOcean. Harris Williams was financial adviser. Gibson Dunn & Crutcher L.L.P. was legal adviser to FullSpeed Automotive.
