Halfords buys Nationwide Autocentres

Feb 18 2010 By nebusiness

Retail chain Halfords moved into car servicing and repairs today with the acquisition of Nationwide Autocentres in a £73.2m deal.

Nationwide’s 224 sites will be rebranded as Halfords Autocentres and it is expected that Halfords will roll out a further 200 centres, creating 1,000 jobs.

Halfords said the rapid increase in demand for its in-store "we fit" services highlighted the opportunities in the car maintenance market.

Chief executive David Wild said: "Our expansion into the adjacent car servicing and repair market is an exciting and logical move for Halfords.

"Nationwide is a high quality business and represents an opportunity for significant growth."

The largest UK provider of MoT and car servicing, Nationwide employs 900 mechanics and deals with around 500,000 customers a year. It has been owned by private equity fund Phoenix since 2006.