Dealer Tire LLC has sold the assets of its Canadian division to Groupe Touchette Inc., a Canadian tire distributor, and entered into a long-term technology services agreement with the company.
Groupe Touchette will purchase the assets of Dealer Tire Canada ULC and assume the Dealer Tire model, offering dedicated merchandising, marketing, and tire wholesale services for the Canadian car dealer channel.
Groupe Touchette and Dealer Tire LLC also have agreed to enter into a long-term technology services agreement whereby the companies will partner to support current Dealer Tire Canada OEM programs with value-added tools and technology to drive sales and support at Canadian-based dealerships.
The transaction is scheduled to close on Aug. 31, 2016, at which time all assets and contracts will be transferred to Groupe Touchette.
Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
“We are very excited about our collaborative agreement with Groupe Touchette,” says Scott Mueller, chief executive officer of Dealer Tire LLC. “We were thoughtful in choosing a partner that we believed would continue to provide superior service to our OEM and dealer customers while also having a similar culture where our employees would continue to thrive.”
Nicolas Touchette, chief executive officer of Groupe Touchette, says his company’s ultimate objective is to create a team with one single goal in mind: offer the best service to OEMs and their car dealer networks in Canada. “We look forward to expanding our business and servicing Dealer Tire Canada’s OEM and dealer customers.”
When the deal closes, Groupe Touchette says it will operate from over 25 warehouses across Canada, enhancing the service level to existing Dealer Tire Canada customers.
Groupe Touchette Inc., privately owned by Nicolas Touchette and Frédéric Bouthillier, has been in the tire industry in Canada for more than 35 years. The company’s focuses on added-value tire distribution and is one of only three national providers. With headquarters in Montréal, Groupe Touchette has more than 350 employees throughout the country.
Groupe Touchette Inc. operates tire distribution sell-out programs (“TireLink” and “dt tire”) as well as retail banners (“Tireland/IciPneu”, “Touchette pneu mécanique”).
Dealer Tire LLC was founded in 1999 by the then-owners of the former Mueller Tire & Brake, a Cleveland-area retail chain founded in 1918. Dealer Tire manages replacement tire and parts programs for more than 20 automotive OEMs. It serves more than 10,000 car dealerships from 42 distributions centers across the U.S. and Canada.
