Harris Williams, a global investment bank specializing in M&A advisory services, announces it advised Crash Champions, a portfolio company of A&M Capital Opportunities (AMCO), on its growth investment from Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. (together with its affiliates, “Clearlake”) and simultaneous merger with Service King Collision (Service King). Crash Champions is one of the nation's fastest growing independent collision repair companies. The transaction was led by Joe Conner, Jershon Jones, Elliott Yousefian, Taylor Rule and Richard Segal of the Harris Williams Transportation & Logistics (T&L) Group.

“The combination of Crash Champions and Service King is one of the most transformative deals in the history of the collision repair industry,” said Joe Conner, a managing director at Harris Williams. “This partnership solidifies the platform’s position as a national player with a management team that is excited to continue pursuing additional growth. This is an exciting combination, and we look forward to seeing what the company accomplishes over the coming years.”

“Clearlake is a great partner for Crash Champions CEO Matt Ebert and the rest of the management team, and the combination with Service King is highly strategic. Clearlake’s experience in the automotive aftermarket, combined with a long history of successfully executing transformative deals, should make this a powerful partnership,” added Jershon Jones, a managing director at Harris Williams.

Crash Champions is a leading independent collision repair company operating 218 state-of-the-art centers across 20 states – including: California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Washington, Wisconsin – and Washington, D.C. Founded in 1999 as a single shop outside Chicago by industry veteran and entrepreneur Matt Ebert, today Crash Champions is a top national brand and one of the fastest growing collision repair companies in America.

AMCO, with assets under management of $500 million, is Alvarez & Marsal Capital’s lower-middle market growth strategy, focused on shared control and structured minority equity investments in North America. AMCO partners with business owners and management teams to help recapitalize and grow businesses, leveraging deep operational capabilities and industry relationships to position them for accelerated long-term growth. AMCO has significant experience with all types of transactions, including growth equity, growth buyouts, recapitalizations, and consolidations of fragmented sectors. More broadly, Alvarez & Marsal Capital is a multi-strategy private equity investment firm with over $4.2 billion in total assets under management across four investment strategies, which maintains a strategic association with Alvarez & Marsal, one of the largest operationally focused advisory firms in the world.

Clearlake is an investment firm founded in 2006 operating integrated businesses across private equity, credit and other related strategies. With a sector-focused approach, the firm seeks to partner with management teams by providing patient, long-term capital to businesses that can benefit from Clearlake’s operational improvement approach, O.P.S.® The firm’s core target sectors are technology, industrials and consumer. Clearlake currently has over $72 billion of assets under management, and its senior investment principals have led or co-led over 400 investments. The firm is headquartered in Santa Monica, California with affiliates in Dallas, London, and Dublin.

Service King is a national operator of comprehensive, high-quality auto body collision repair facilities. The organization is consistently recognized for its commitment to customer satisfaction, quality workmanship, and giving back to the industry through innovative training and recruiting initiatives. Service King traces its roots to Dallas and founder Eddie Lennox, who opened the first Service King in 1976. Today, Service King operates 334 locations in 24 states, as well as the District of Columbia.

Harris Williams, an investment bank specializing in M&A advisory services, advocates for sellers and buyers of companies worldwide through critical milestones and provides thoughtful advice during the lives of their businesses. By collaborating as one firm across Industry Groups and geographies, the firm helps its clients achieve outcomes that support their objectives and strategically create value. Harris Williams is committed to execution excellence and to building enduring, valued relationships that are based on mutual trust. Harris Williams is a subsidiary of the PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC).

The Harris Williams Transportation & Logistics Group serves companies in a broad range of attractive niches, including third-party logistics (3PL), automotive and heavy-duty vehicle, transportation equipment, and truck, rail, marine and air transportation. For more information on the firm’s T&L Group and other recent transactions, visit the T&L Group’s section of the Harris Williams website.

Harris Williams LLC is a registered broker-dealer and member of FINRA and SIPC. Harris Williams & Co. Ltd is a private limited company incorporated under English law with its registered office at 8th Floor, 20 Farringdon Street, London EC4A 4AB, UK, registered with the Registrar of Companies for England and Wales (registration number 07078852). Harris Williams & Co. Ltd is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Harris Williams & Co. Corporate Finance Advisors GmbH is registered in the commercial register of the local court of Frankfurt am Main, Germany, under HRB 107540. The registered address is Bockenheimer Landstrasse 33-35, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany (email address: hwgermany@harriswilliams.com). Geschäftsführer/Directors: Jeffery H. Perkins, Paul Poggi. (VAT No. DE321666994). Harris Williams is a trade name under which Harris Williams LLC, Harris Williams & Co. Ltd and Harris Williams & Co. Corporate Finance Advisors GmbH conduct business.

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