Boyd Group Income Fund Acquires U.S. Collision Repair Company with 11 Locations

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- Boyd Group grows its Florida footprint with the acquisition of The Recovery Room -

WINNIPEG, Nov. 16, 2012 /CNW/ - Boyd Group Income Fund (TSX: BYD.UN) ("the Fund" or "the Boyd Group") today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the assets of The Recovery Room of Central Florida, Inc. ("TRR"), which owns 11 collision repair centers in the Orlando, Florida market under the trade name The Recovery Room Collision Repair. TRR represents an attractive acquisition that is expected to be accretive to the Fund's earnings and cash flows within its first year of operation.  The acquisition is scheduled to close at the end of day, November 16, 2012.

"Acquiring TRR is another important strategic undertaking that will double our number of locations in Florida" said Brock Bulbuck, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Boyd Group.  "Currently, there is no other major multi-location collision operator in Florida, and we are the first to build significant presence in the state.  We believe Florida is an attractive market for our business and has many growth opportunities. Like the Boyd Group, TRR's business model provides for a fully integrated service offering and its customer base consists largely of automobile insurers.  These similarities should lead to a smooth integration with our existing business.  We also believe that we can add to TRR's customer base by leveraging our existing relationships with other insurance companies.  As the largest multi-location collision repair operator in North America in terms of annual sales and number of locations, the Boyd Group is committed to solidifying its industry leading position and continues to look for opportunities to grow its operations."

The total consideration of approximately US$7.3 million, plus a work-in-progress inventory adjustment will be funded through a combination of cash, bank debt and third-party financing. The Fund will not be issuing any new equity to fund the transaction and, therefore, the transaction will not result in equity dilution to unitholders.

With 11 locations, TRR is expected to generate annual sales of approximately US$23 million.  The Fund forecasts that TRR will add annual Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization ("EBITDA") of approximately US$1.6 million to its consolidated EBITDA, including synergies. The Boyd Group is the largest multi-site operator of automotive collision repair service centres in North America with 205 locations across 14 U.S. states and 4 Canadian provinces.

About The Boyd Group Inc.

The Boyd Group Inc. is the largest operator of collision repair centres in North America. The Company operates locations in the four Western Canadian provinces under the trade name Boyd Autobody & Glass (http://www.boydautobody.com), as well as in 14 U.S. states under the trade names Gerber Collision & Glass (http://www.gerbercollision.com) and Pearl Auto Body. The Company also operates Gerber National Glass Services, an auto glass repair and replacement referral business with approximately 3,000 affiliated service providers throughout the United States. For more information on The Boyd Group Inc. or Boyd Group Income Fund, please visit our website at http://www.boydgroup.com.

About The Boyd Group Income Fund

The Boyd Group Income Fund is an unincorporated, open-ended mutual fund trust created for the purposes of acquiring and holding certain investments, including a majority interest in The Boyd Group Inc. and its subsidiaries. The Boyd Group Income Fund units trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) under the symbol BYD.UN.

Caution concerning forward-looking statements

Statements made in this press release, other than those concerning historical financial information, may be forward-looking and therefore subject to various risks and uncertainties. Some forward-looking statements may be identified by words like "may", "will", "anticipate", "estimate", "expect", "intend", or "continue" or the negative thereof or similar variations. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such statements, as actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Factors that could cause results to vary include, but are not limited to: dependence upon The Boyd Group Inc. and its Subsidiaries; cash distributions not guaranteed; inability to successfully integrate acquisitions; economic downturn; rapid growth; loss of key customers; brand management and reputation; insurance risk; quality of corporate governance; tax position risk; risk of litigation; acquisition risk; credit & refinancing risks; dependence on key personnel; employee relations; decline in number of insurance claims; market environment change; reliance on technology; weather conditions; expansion into new markets; fluctuations in operating results and seasonality; increased government regulation and tax risk; execution on new strategies; operating hazards; energy costs; U.S. health care costs and workers compensation claims; low capture rates; key supplier relationships; capital expenditures; competition; potential undisclosed liabilities associated with acquisitions; foreign currency risk; margin pressure; acquisition and start-up growth and ongoing access to capital; environmental, health and safety risk; interest rates; and the Fund's success in anticipating and managing the foregoing risks.

We caution that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive and that when reviewing our forward-looking statements, investors and others should refer to the "Risk Factors" section of the Fund's Annual Information Form, the "Risks and Uncertainties" and other sections of our Management's Discussion and Analysis of Operating Results and Financial Position and our other periodic filings with Canadian securities regulatory authorities. All forward-looking statements presented herein should be considered in conjunction with such filings.

 

SOURCE: Boyd Group Income Fund

Brock Bulbuck
President &CEO
Tel: [phone]
[email protected]

Salvador Diaz
Investor Relations
Tel: [phone] (ext. 242)
[email protected]

Dan Dott
VP & CFO
Tel: [phone]
[email protected]