Halfords, the UK’s largest provider of Motoring and Cycling products and services, today announces that it has signed a sale and purchase agreement to purchase the entire issued share capital of Axle Group Holdings Ltd (“National”) on a cash free, debt free basis, for total consideration of £62 million, subject to adjustment for normalised working capital. The Consideration will be paid in cash on the date of completion, which is expected to be 9 December 2021.

National is a well-established business in the tyre and automotive servicing, maintenance and repair market (SMR), operating under the following brands: National Tyres and Autocare (“NTA”), Viking Wholesale Tyres (“Viking”) and Tyre Shopper. On completion of the Acquisition, National will be integrated into Halfords’ Autocentres business.

The deal will help Britain’s biggest motoring and cycling products and services provider expand its network to 1,400 locations.

National is a well-established business in the tyre and automotive SMR market. It employs 1,400 people and operates under three brands:

  • NTA operates 239 tyre and SMR garages and 60 mobile tyre fitting vans, providing national coverage across Great Britain. Tyres, which are predominantly sourced through Viking, represent over 80% of its sales mix with c.1.3 million tyres fitted per annum. MOT and service represent c.5% of NTA’s sales mix. Headquartered in Stockport, NTA has approximately 1,200 FTE across its garage estate along with a database of 1.1 million customers.
  • Viking is a wholesaler of tyres and related consumables to B2B customers, including NTA. Headquartered in Glasgow, Viking has 8 warehouses5 strategically located close to the motorway network.
  • Tyre Shopper is a UK based online tyre retailer, where users purchase tyres online and have them fitted at NTA centres or remotely using the mobile fitting service. Currently, ‘online’ represents just under a third of National’s sales mix.

National’s garage network is structurally similar to Halfords’ Autocentres business and adds further complementary capabilities in the tyre market with Viking and Tyre Shopper. National’s CEO, Tony Neill will also join the Group post-Acquisition.

Halfords 01.12.2021