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Brock Bulbuck and Des D’Silva on the impacts of the Boyd/Assured acquisition
T
he Canadian collision repair industry took on a new aspect in late May when Winnipeg-based Boyd Group announced a blockbuster deal for Ontario mega-chain Assured Automotive. The deal is a massive one and seems to be a defining event in the sector. Assured is the largest operator of non-franchised collision repair centres in Canada. Based in Ontario it has a large presence where Boyd, until now, had little. Collision Repair magazine interviewed Brock Bulbuck, CEO of Boyd, and Desmond D’Silva, CEO of Assured Automotive on the business deal that promises to radically reshape the collision repair landscape. Collision Repair magazine: Boyd operates hundreds of centres in the US, but seems to have largely stuck to Manitoba and points west in Canada until recently. What led up to the acquisition of Assured Automotive? Brock Bulbuck: We’ve wanted to expand into Ontario for a some time now. We’ve had one Ontario location for a few years. Queensway Auto Body in Kitchener. But prior to Assured, we hadn’t been very effective at growing our location count in Ontraio. CRM: Assured operates 68 collision repair centres in Ontario, including 30 intake centres co-located at automotive dealerships. That’s a very large regional presence. Beyond the size of the operation, what was it that made this deal attractive to the Boyd Group?
BB: When we looked at the Ontario collision repair landscape, Assured was by far the most advanced in having a meaningful, developed platform for additional growth. The management team has shown outstanding both performance and outstanding growth. Obviously, Assured has a very strong brand. They were the stand-out in terms of a desirable platform for Ontario and eastern Canada. CRM: An acquisition of this size doesn’t happen overnight and it’s probably safe to assume it’s been in the planning stages for some times. What finally got everything moving? BB: The deal finally came about when Des stopped saying “No” to my asking him to sell to us and join us. I’ve known Des the better part of 10 years and Tony (Canade, President
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of Assured Automotive – Ed.) almost as long. I can’t recall the first time that we would have approached them to ask them to consider selling their business, but it was certainly well over five years ago. They said “No” many, many times. More seriously though, in the last year there were some compelling circumstances with the Assured ownership group and alignment on future strategy that probably changed the “No” to a “Yes”, but I will let Des tell you about those. CRM: Des, for your part, what finally led you to say “Yes” to the deal? Des D’Silva: We wanted to continue to grow and take Assured to the next level, but we had some partners in the business that were interested in retiring rather than investing