Five years after the heartache of one of its founders, Québec automotive paint distributor Uni-Sélect is being taken over by American giant LKQ, which is buying it for $2.8 billion.
“This acquisition further strengthens LKQ’s global automotive parts distribution business,” said Dominick Zarcone, president and CEO of LKQ Corporation, in a statement.
“The transaction offers our shareholders attractive value and cash and represents the culmination of our dedicated team’s efforts to improve our business and increase efficiencies with a focus on excellent customer service,” added Brian McManus, executive president and chief executive officer of Uni-Select, added.
Flagship lost
In 2018, Gaston Trudel, then 94, discovered with regret that Boucherville’s auto parts flagship was considering divesting a subsidiary.
“I think it sucks,” Gaston Trudel, who founded Uni-Select in Saint-Hyacinthe with a dozen other entrepreneurs in November 1968, told the Journal.
Five years later, however, the entire company was sold to Chicago-based American giant LKQ.
– More details to come.