Driven Brands Holdings Inc. operates as an automotive services company in North America. The company has a growing and highly-franchised base of locations across 49 U.S. states and 13 other countries.
The company’s scaled, diversified platform provides services to an extensive range of retail and commercial customers. The company’s breadth of services covers a wide variety of automotive needs, including paint, collision, glass, and repair services, as well as a variety of high-frequency service...
Driven Brands Holdings Inc. operates as an automotive services company in North America. The company has a growing and highly-franchised base of locations across 49 U.S. states and 13 other countries.
The company’s scaled, diversified platform provides services to an extensive range of retail and commercial customers. The company’s breadth of services covers a wide variety of automotive needs, including paint, collision, glass, and repair services, as well as a variety of high-frequency services, such as oil changes and car washes. The company’s portfolio of brands continues to generate consistent recurring revenue with strong operating margins.
The company has a portfolio of well-known brands, including Take 5 Oil Change (Take 5 Oil), Meineke Car Care Center (Meineke), MAACO (Maaco), CARSTAR, IMO, Take 5 Car Wash, AutoGlassNow (AGN), Fix Auto (Fix Auto), and 1-800-Radiator & A/C (1-800 Radiator), among others. The company’s diversified platform caters to almost any automotive service occasion.
Business
The company’s suite of automotive services includes the following segments:
Maintenance
Maintenance segment is primarily consisting of the Take 5 Oil and Meineke brands. The company’s Maintenance brands service a combination of retail and commercial customers, such as fleet operators, through various locations. The company’s maintenance services include oil changes and other regularly scheduled or as-needed automotive services, including vehicle component repair and replacement.
Take 5 Oil specializes in providing efficient drive-thru-style oil changes. Take 5 Oil’s franchised and company-operated locations, primarily offer oil changes to retail and commercial customers. Take 5 Oil offers a best-in-class operating model through its convenient drive-thru stay-in-your-car format, simple and focused menu, industry-leading speed of service, and low-pressure sales environment, which is designed to generate strong customer satisfaction, high frequency of use, and attractive unit level economics.
Meineke offers an extensive set of total car care services to retail customers and commercial fleet programs, including maintenance, repair, and replacement of components, such as brakes, heating and cooling systems, exhaust, and tires and is known as an automotive services industry pioneer.
Paint, Collision & Glass
Paint, Collision & Glass segment is primarily composed of the CARSTAR, ABRA, Fix Auto, Maaco, Uniban, and AGN brands and serves retail, commercial, and insurance customers. The company’s paint services include full body repainting and touch-up, surface preparation and protection, and refinishing and other cosmetic repairs; its collision services include full collision repair and refinishing services; and its glass services include replacement, repair, and calibration services for automotive glass.
The company’s paint services are offered through Maaco. The company’s franchised locations, as of December 28, 2024, offer an extensive suite of services, including paint services, surface preparation, protection, and refinishing, reconditioning, and other cosmetic external and internal repairs. Maaco primarily serves retail customers and commercial fleet operators and provides strong retail customer service at a much lower average price point than most collision centers, making it an economical option for minor auto body repair when customers prefer to not file an insurance claim.
The company’s collision repair services are primarily offered through CARSTAR, ABRA, and Fix Auto and together comprise the largest franchised collision repair network in North America. The company offers full collision repair and refinishing services in addition to other cosmetic repairs.
The company’s glass repair services are primarily offered through Uniban in Canada and AGN in the U.S. Uniban is known as a leader in the category. In 2022, the company expanded its offerings to the U.S. through the acquisition of AGN and additional smaller acquisitions, making it the second-largest glass services business in the U.S. auto glass servicing category. The company’s glass services locations across the U.S. and Canada, primarily offer replacement, repair, and calibration services for automotive glass to retail customers, as well as commercial fleet operators and insurance carriers. The company also offers technology-enabled glass claims management services for insurance carriers, which drives incremental business to its glass service locations and its distribution business and are complementary to its paint and collision businesses.
Car Wash
The company is the world’s largest conveyor car wash company by location count with total locations across North America, Europe, and Australia. The company’s services primarily consist of express-style exterior car wash services that utilize an automated conveyor belt to pull vehicles along a track where they are machine washed.
The company’s car wash services in Europe and Australia are primarily offered through the IMO brand, which provides express-style conveyor car wash services. IMO’s operations appeal to a broad consumer base seeking a car wash at easily-accessible locations. The company’s international locations operate an independent operator model, whereby a third-party is responsible for site-level labor and receives commissions based on a percent of site revenue from car washes.
The company has grown to become one of the largest domestic operators of conveyor car wash sites with company-operated locations across the U.S., predominately under the Take 5 Car Wash brand. The company’s highly-attractive value proposition, focused on affordability, convenience, and speed of service, resonates with its customers and encourages a high frequency of use. To further strengthen customer loyalty and visit frequency, the company also utilizes a subscription membership program, which in 2024, accounted for approximately 69% of its domestic car wash revenue, an increase from approximately 60% in the prior year.
Platform Services
Platform Services segment primarily composed of the 1-800 Radiator, Spire Supply, Driven Advantage, and Automotive Training Institute (ATI) businesses. This segment provides significant benefits to the company’s brands by driving organic growth opportunities through procurement, distribution, and training services, as well as growth opportunities through acquisition target sourcing.
The company’s distribution services are primarily offered through 1-800 Radiator and is one of the largest franchised distributors in the automotive parts industry. 1-800 Radiator’s locations, are almost exclusively franchised and distribute a broad, diverse mix of long-tail automotive parts, including radiators, air conditioning components, and exhaust products to automotive repair shops, auto parts stores, body shops, and other auto repair outlets. 1-800 Radiator’s best-in-class operating model is fueled by proprietary algorithmic sourcing technology that enables franchisees to effectively order inventory, manage pricing, and deliver parts to customers within hours.
In 2017, the company launched Spire Supply, an in-house distributor of consumable products such as oil filters and wiper blades, which serves all Take 5 Oil locations. In 2023, the company launched its Driven Advantage e-commerce platform providing a custom buying experience for its user base. Driven Advantage and Spire Supply provide attractive pricing to franchisees relative to other options, as well as incremental EBITDA to Driven Brands. In addition, Driven Advantage and Spire Supply simplify operations for franchisees and company-operated stores by reducing inventory needs and ensuring availability of supplies.
The company’s financial and operational training services are offered through ATI, a leading provider of training services to independent repair and maintenance, and paint and collision shops. ATI’s core offering is a multi-year training package that is typically paid for through a monthly subscription. ATI’s leading training program further enhances Driven Brands’ training platform, providing opportunities to improve operational support and increase profitability for both Driven Brands and the company’s franchisees. In addition, ATI’s deep customer database of independent automotive shops provides it with a pipeline for future franchise development and acquisitions.
Company-Operated Store Strategy
The company continues to expand company-operated footprint through a combination of greenfield openings, as well as acquiring and converting stores.
Franchising Strategy
The company’s franchising strategy is to grow certain of its brands’ footprints in a capital efficient manner. The company’s franchise model leverages its proven brand playbooks, the market planning and site selection capabilities of its best-in-class development team, and the local market expertise of highly-motivated owners. The company’s attractive unit economics, national brand recognition, strong commercial fleet and insurance customer relationships, and beneficial shared service capabilities provide highly compelling economic benefits for its franchisees, resulting in a strong desire to join and stay within its network.
Marketing Strategy
The company’s marketing strategy highlights the needs-based service offerings and value propositions of each of its brands. The company uses a variety of marketing techniques to build awareness of, and create demand for, its brands and the products and services they offer. The company’s advertising strategy includes CRM, social and digital media, as well as television, print, radio, and sponsorships. The company has implemented highly professionalized and data-driven marketing practices and have dedicated brand marketing funds supported by contributions from its franchisees.
Intellectual Property
Trademarks that are important in identifying and distinguishing the company’s products and services include, but are not limited to ABRA, CARSTAR, DrivenBrands, IMO, MAACO, Meineke Car Care Center, Spire Supply, Take 5 Oil Change, Take 5 Car Wash, AutoGlassNow, and 1-800-Radiator & A/C. The company licenses or sublicenses, as applicable, the Fix Auto trademark for use in connection with its business in the U.S. The company also owns domain names, including its primary domain www.drivenbrands.com.
Seasonality
Seasonal changes, including inclement weather, impact the demand for the company’s automotive repair and maintenance services, car washes, and products.
Government Regulations and Other Regulatory Matters
The company, as a franchisor, are subject to various state and provincial laws, and the Federal Trade Commission (the FTC) regulates its franchising activities in the U.S.
History
Driven Brands Holdings Inc. was founded in 1972. The company was incorporated in 2015.