TBC Corp. has finalized its purchase of Merchant's Inc., North America's sixth largest independent tire store chain, and will make the dealership part of its Tire Kingdom Inc. retail system.
TBC paid $57.5 million in cash for Merchant's, which has 112 stores, and will pay up to $15 million in future years based on the outlets' performance.
"Now that our acquisition has been completed, we look forward to moving ahead with our integration plans and realizing the full value of this acquisition for the company and its stockholders," says TBC President and CEO Larry Day.
States with Merchant's locations include Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and South Carolina, plus Washington, D.C.
TBC's total retail operations at press time also inclue 228 Tire Kingdom stores and 543 franchised Big O Tires Inc. outlets.
TBC is the country's largest private brand tire marketer with 8% of the domestic passenger replacement tire market, according to Modern Tire Dealer data.
