NORCROSS, Georgia — APCO Holdings, LLC (“APCO”), a provider and administrator of automotive Finance & Insurance (“F&I”) products and home to the EasyCare and GWC Warranty brands, has acquired National Auto Care (“NAC”).
NAC is a highly respected provider of F&I products, administration, consulting services, training, and marketing support. With more than 35 years of demonstrated success, NAC provides products and services to thousands of auto, RV, and powersports dealers, credit unions and financial institutions.
“We are excited by all the benefits that this acquisition brings to APCO. It completes our national footprint, expands our range of products for automobile and RV dealers, adds new segments like Powersports, and strengthens our training and business development capabilities to keep us at the forefront of helping dealers, agents and partners maintain F&I profitability as the market returns to a more traditional, competitive state,” said Finbarr O’Neill, Executive Chairman of APCO.
Following the close of the transaction, Tony Wanderon, who was CEO of NAC, has become CEO of APCO effective immediately. Scot Eisenfelder who was CEO of APCO previously has stepped down in conjunction with this transaction.
“We thank Scot for his dedicated leadership and the progress made in this very challenging market. Scot added immense value to this organization during his tenure.”, said Mr. O’Neill. “We look forward to Tony’s leadership, leveraging his deep experience in the F&I arena, his demonstrated history of building strong businesses to successfully support auto retail F&I operations, while creating a strong customer-oriented culture.”
“Our teams share many similar philosophies in how our companies operate,” said Tony Wanderon, CEO of APCO. “We are all committed to quality and excellence in everything we do, most importantly taking care of customers, helping them optimize their dealer F&I operations while creating a workplace where our employees feel valued. I am confident that our future is bright.”
The transaction was financed substantially by an equity injection by majority shareholder Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board (“Ontario Teachers’”) and third-party debt financing. Terms of the transaction are not being disclosed.
“We have been APCO’s majority shareholder since 2016 and are excited to continue supporting the company in its next phase of growth”, says Jeff Markusson, Senior Managing Director, Financial Services at Ontario Teachers’. “We believe the combination of the two complementary companies creates a true leader in the F&I space with enhanced and diversified distribution channels, prominent brand and a broad product portfolio with multiple organic and M&A growth levers backed by a top leadership team.”
APCO’s and NAC’s shared expertise and complementary offerings will be leveraged to help dealers meet changing market needs, such as the continued emergence of digital retailing and EV sales. The expansive, combined F&I product suite will allow dealers to capture more revenue through increased sales opportunities, including additional EV offerings, high-mileage products, access to the MotorTrend Certified program and expertise in both RV and powersports industries.
RBC Capital Markets acted as lead financial advisor to APCO, with TD Securities, Scotiabank, BMO Capital Markets, and CIBC World Markets serving as co-advisors. Debt financing for the transaction was led by Royal Bank of Canada, who acted as lead left arranger & bookrunner, with TD, Scotiabank, Bank of Montreal, and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce serving as joint lead arrangers & bookrunners. Weil, Gotshal & Manges acted as legal adviser to APCO.
