McKillen family owned Atlas Autoservice has agreed to buy Bridgestone’s 18 Irish retail depots, marking a “significant expansion” of the tyre and car servicing group, and several sites to family ownership.
The acquisition will more than double the size of Atlas Autoservices, which operates nine outlets across Dublin, having evolved from tyre business Stillorgan Tyres originally acquired by John McKillen in 2006.
John McKillen remains involved with the day-to-day running of the family owned business, with his daughter Chloe McKillen now managing director of the company.
Ms McKillen said that the acquisition of the Bridgestone depots facilitates Atlas Autoservices’ ambition “to become the number one choice for Irish motorists across the country”.
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The 18 Bridgestone depots, which operate under the First Stop and Fast Fit brands, will bring to 27 the outlets operated by Atlas Autoservices and will more than double the workforce of more than 100 people employed by the company.
As well as making Atlas Autoservices the largest chain of tyre and car servicing outlets in Dublin, the acquisition of Bridgestone outlets will expand Atlas Autoservices’ presence to Cork, Galway, Drogheda, Waterford and Wexford.
The 18 First Stop and Fast Fit depots will continue to operate under their existing brand names at this time.
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The acquisition also includes several sites which originally formed part of DC Exhausts, Ireland’s first chain of tyre and exhaust service outlets founded by the late Paddy McKillen snr in the 1970s.
DC Exhausts was sold by the McKillen family in 1990, for a reported IR£25 million.
Brother of John McKillen and son of Paddy McKillen snr, hotelier and property developer Paddy McKillen left school at 16 to work in the family exhaust repair business, before going on to build his business empire. His son, Paddy McKillen jnr, is the co-owner of hospitality group Press Up Entertainment.
Chloe McKillen said there is a “deep sense of pride” in acquiring the sites originally owned by DC Exhausts.
“This was a business founded by my grandfather in the 1970s, so there is a deep sense of pride in bringing this business back under family ownership and into the Atlas Group,” she said.
She added that through a new partnership, Atlas Autoservices will continue to sell Bridgestone tyres across its network of 27 depots.
Davy Corporate Finance is acting as financial adviser to Bridgestone, while Eversheds Sutherland provided legal counsel. DLT is acting as financial adviser to Atlas, legal counsel from Gartlan Furey and Philip Lee.
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