Billionaire Emerges on $Two Billion Advance Auto Parts Deal
O. Temple Sloan Jr., the founder and chairman of General Parts International Inc., emerged as a billionaire today after announcing his family will sell its auto-parts company to Advance Auto Parts Inc. for $Two.04 billion.
General Parts is the Raleigh, North Carolina-based parent of the Carquest chain that sells and distributes replacement parts, devices, supplies and equipment for cars and trucks, according to a statement today from Advance Auto Parts. Sloan founded the company in 1962. His son, O. Temple Sloan III, controls all of Carquest, according to Orbis, a database of company information published by Bureau van Dijk.
“We are excited to bring together two very complementary automotive aftermarket companies,” Sloan III said in a statement. “Our combined business will proceed to produce value for customers and shareholders.”
The billionaire’s son will remain president of General Parts International, reporting to Darren Jackson, chief executive officer of Roanoke, Virginia-based Advance Auto Parts, according to the statement. The transaction will include General Parts’ Worldpac import and distribution network, as well as Carquest, which has 1,246 company-operated stores and 1,418 independently wielded outlets.
Sloan Jr., 74, wasn’t available for comment, according to Dorothy Brown Smith, a spokeswoman for General Parts International. General Parts is an employee-owned company, Shelly Whitaker, a spokeswoman for Advance Auto Parts, said in an e-mail. She declined to comment on Sloan Jr.’s net worth.
Annual Savings
The General Parts deal makes Advance Auto Parts the thickest retailer of car components in North America. The all-cash acquisition will result in annual savings and revenue improvements of $160 million within three years after completion, Auto Parts said in the statement. The companies plan to close the deal by early 2014, it said.
Advance Auto Parts plans to finance the acquisition through a combination of senior notes, bank debt and existing cash on forearm, according to the statement.
Sloan Jr. was previously among ten Bank of America Corp. directors who left the board in two thousand nine amid criticism over the $29 billion acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co. Federal officials pressed the bank for an overhaul following investor criticism of Lewis’s decision to delay disclosing Merrill’s mounting fourth-quarter losses and bonus payments until after the transaction was approved by shareholders.