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Blackstone to Acquire Majority Stake in Service King Global investment firm Blackstone Group has agreed to buy a majority stake in Service King Collision Repair Centers from Carlyle Group, according to a July 23 news release from Blackstone. Financial terms were not disclosed, but the Wall Street Journal reported that the deal values Service King at about $650 million, citing a source close to the matter. Carlyle, which acquired majority stake in Service King in August 2012, will retain a minority stake in the company, as will the repair chain’s management, according to the release. Under Carlyle, Service King has ex-
panded aggressively, growing from less than 50 shops in Texas to 177 facilities in 20 states. In June, the company acquired 62 Sterling Collision Centers. “In a fragmented industry, Service King has grown tremendously and Carlyle is proud to have supported their achievements,” said Shary Moalemzadeh, Carlyle managing director and co-head of Carlyle Strategic Partners. “We will continue to support Service King’s business and growth strategy and we are pleased with the successes we have achieved together thus far during Carlyle’s in-
An investigative TV report aired the night of July 7 that covers the state’s new anti-steering law for automotive glass claims on NBC Connecticut. The report centered on a Connecticut resident who alleges he was steered to Safelite AutoGlass by Safelite Solutions (a third-party automotive glass claims administrator) and company owners in the state allege this situation is not new. NBC Connecticut reporter George Colli produced the report in response to a recent law being passed to prevent automotive glass steering in the state—Public Act 13-67 (an Act Concerning Automotive Glass
Work)—which went into effect January 1. “We are aware of the complaint from [Steven] Petrauskas and are investigating what took place,” according to a Safelite statement issued to the station. “While Safelite Solutions dedicates significant resources in training its customer service representatives, sometimes human error may occur and that is what we believed happened here.” “’Human error’ or not, the NBC 30 report is very concerning because the auto glass people of Connecticut worked very hard to pass a law that
See Service King, Page 6
NBC Connecticut’s Investigative Report Focuses on Alleged Auto Glass Steering
See CT Anti-Steering Law, Page 12
VOL. 4 ISSUE 5 AUGUST 2014
New Jersey Latest State to Introduce Legislation to Ban Fake Airbags State Assembly and Senate bills introduced last week seek to prohibit the manufacture, sale, or installation of counterfeit or nonoperational air bags in a motor vehicle. New Jersey Assemblywoman Annette Quijano on June 9 introduced Assembly Bill 3364 that seeks to seek to prohibit the manufacture, sale, or installation of counterfeit or nonoperational air bags in a motor vehicle. The measure contains language similar to that found in legislation and laws introduced in several other states over the last year. An identical bill was also introduced in the New Jersey Senate on June 12 by Senator Peter J. Barnes III. Under the provisions of this bill, as introduced, a person who “manufactures, imports, installs, reinstalls,
sells, or offers for sale any device with the intent that the device replace an air bag in any motor vehicle and knows or reasonably should know that the device is a counterfeit air bag, a nonfunctional air bag, or does not meet certain federal safety requirements is guilty of a fourth degree crime.” A fourth degree crime is punishable by up to 18 months imprisonment, and a fine of up to $10,000, or both. The bill also includes language that seeks to make it illegal to disable or cause the vehicle’s diagnostic system to make it seem like a functioning airbag is installed. The bill would also make it a fourth degree crime for anyone “…who sells, installs, or reinstalls in any motor vehicle a device
Over several months, auto body repair shops in five states (Florida, Mississippi, Indiana, Utah and Tennessee) have filed antitrust actions against a multitude of auto insurers, alleging that the insurers’ direct repair programs violate the antitrust laws. In each case, the plaintiffs alleged that the manner in which the insurers set reimbursement rates for covered repairs artificially depressed the compensation plaintiffs received for their services, and that the insurers also steered insureds away from plaintiffs’ businesses to those shops that are participants in the insurers’ direct repair programs. The attorneys representing dozens of Florida Collision Repairers have now re-filed an amended complaint seeking their day in court. They did so following a judge’s comments when the judge dismissed the previous complaint (A&E Auto Body, Inc., et al. v. 21st Century Centennial Insurance Company, et al.) finding that the plain-
tiffs’ complaint lacked the necessary factual detail required for the plaintiffs’ claims. The suit, originally filed February 24 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Orlando Division, was one of five that plaintiffs in May sought to have consolidated for pretrial proceedings. The insurers also maintained that if the Judicial Panel does consolidate the cases, they should be transferred to the Middle District of Florida, before the judge presiding in the A&E Auto Body case, because it is the “most procedurally advanced case.” Among the problems cited in the judge’s dismissal order was that each of the allegations (across over 120 paragraphs in the complaint) were included in each of the several counts included in the complaint and therefore constituted what the judge deemed a prohibited “shotgun” pleading.
See Fake Airbags, Page 18
Florida Repairers Re-File Multi-Lawsuit Against 39 Insurers, Previously Filed Complaint Dismissed
See FL Case Refiled, Page 22
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