The Tire Rack founders Peter and Wilma Veldman have sold a minority interest in the company to Leonard Green & Partners, a Los Angeles-based investment firm. No terms were announced.
All remaining family shareholders will continue to be owners and executives. They include vice presidents Mike Joines, Tom Veldman, Mark Veldman and Matt Edmonds.
"We’re excited to bring in Leonard Green & Partners as a minority equity investor," says Edmonds. "They were selected because of their track record of supporting management teams that are in place."
Peter Veldman, 79, is The Tire Rack's president. In April, he announced that he and his wife, Wilma, intended to retire from the day-to-day operations of the business and focus on their charitable interests.
Since 1979, the family-owned company, headquartered in South Bend, Ind., has grown to encompass more than 1.2 million square feet of warehouse space across the country, employ 400 staff members and partner with more than 3,600 "recommended installers" to service customers nationwide.
