I'm a little surprised no one has brought up the topic of Mister Car Wash being sold. I had been told by a friend it was in the works, but still surprised at how quickly it is happening.
“How does everyone think this will affect the industry?”
I believe there will be no effect.
“Is it another MACE or Wash Depot at this point?”
Leonard Green & Partners is a $15 billion private equity firm.
Green invests in small cap, industry leaders. Green relies on management partners for operations and strategy. It targets cash flow positive firms that can grow by at least 50% over five-years. Green has held positions for as long as ten years.
If Green holds true to form, it is going to give the current management partners the opportunity to execute a strategy to grow the Mister car wash chain/holdings to roughly 200 locations by 2019 or so.
200 – 134 = 66 / 5 = 13 new stores a year
$450 million now for 134 washes (plus 32 lubes) is $3.36 million per store. So, in 2019, 200 stores would be worth at least $672 million.
Of course, the management partners or team will have to perform.
However, unlike Mace, Green would probably not hesitate to bring in outside expertise to assist the management partners if they stumbled.
Otherwise, Green would probably sell underperforming assets like any other private equity firm.
