New acquisition
Boucherville (Québec), November 15, 2018 – Uni-Select Inc. (“Uni-Select”, TSX: UNS), announced today that one of its subsidiaries has completed the acquisition of all the outstanding shares of Autochoice Parts & Paints Limited (”Autochoice”). Autochoice operates its business from 18 locations located in the Canadian Atlantic region. This acquisition significantly expands Uni-Select’s footprint in the Provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland.
AutoChoice is a leading distributor of automotive aftermarket parts and paints for both domestic and foreign vehicles, with approximately 150 professionals in the eastern Canada market. AutoChoice specializes in original equipment type replacement products. AutoChoice has always delivered and taken great pride in providing products.
“With this transaction, we add a solid team and a stable business organization carrying diverse product categories including automotive parts, paint and body supplies to the Uni‑Select family. These Atlantic stores are a very nice addition to our growing corporate store network in Canada and they complement our strong network of independent jobber customers,” stated Brent Windom, President and Chief Operating Officer, Canadian Automotive Group.
ABOUT UNI-SELECT
Uni-Select is a leader in the distribution of automotive refinish and industrial paint and related products in North America, as well as a leader in the automotive aftermarket parts business in Canada and in the UK. Uni‑Select is headquartered in Boucherville, Québec, Canada, and its shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) under the symbol UNS.
In Canada, Uni-Select supports over 16,000 automotive repair and collision repair shops through a growing national network of more than 1,100 independent customers and over 50 company-owned stores, many of which operate under the Uni-Select BUMPER TO BUMPER®, AUTO PARTS PLUS® AND FINISHMASTER® store banner programs. It also supports over 3,900 shops and stores through its automotive repair/installer shop banners, as well as through its automotive refinish banners.
In the United States, Uni-Select, through its wholly-owned subsidiary FinishMaster, Inc., operates a national network of over 200 automotive refinish company-owned stores under the FINISHMASTER banner which services a network of over 30,000 customers annually, of which it is the primary supplier to over 6,800 collision repair centre customers.
In the UK and Ireland, Uni-Select, through its Parts Alliance group of subsidiaries, is a leading distributor of automotive parts supporting over 23,000 customer accounts with a network of close to 200 locations including over 170 company-owned stores.
CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
Certain statements made in this press release are forward-looking statements. These statements include, without limitation, statements relating to analyses and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by the words assumption, goal, guidance, objective, outlook, project, strategy, target and other similar expressions or future or conditional verbs such as aim, anticipate, believe, could, expect, intend, may, plan, seek, should, strive and will. All such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the “safe harbour” provisions of applicable Canadian securities laws.
Forward-looking statements are, by their very nature, subject to inherent risks and uncertainties and are based on several assumptions, both general and specific, which may cause expressed expectations to be significantly different from those listed or implied within this press release. As a result, we cannot guarantee that any forward-looking statement will materialize and we caution you against relying on any of these forward‑looking statements. The forward-looking information contained herein is made as of the date of this press release, and Uni-Select does not undertake to publicly update such forward-looking information to reflect new information, subsequent or otherwise, unless required by applicable securities laws. To the extent any forward-looking statement in this press release constitutes financial outlook, within the meaning of applicable securities laws, such information is intended to provide shareholders with information regarding Uni-Select, including its assessment of future financial plans, and may not be appropriate for other purposes.
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CONTACT INFORMATION
Pierre Boucher, CPA, CMA
Jennifer McCaughey, CFA
MaisonBrison Communications
Tel. : (514) 731-0000
pierre@maisonbrison.com
jennifer@maisonbrison.com
investorrelations@uniselect.com