Private Equity in Auto Repair 2026: Active Platforms, Multiples, and Roll-Up Strategy

TL;DR: The U.S. auto repair aftermarket is a $65B+ industry with ~70% independent shop share and the 50 largest companies generating less than 10% of revenue. Private equity has built or recapitalized at least 7 verified national platforms across mechanical, tire, and quick-lube. Verified multiples for 2026: SDE 2.0x-4.5x for small owner-operator shops, EBITDA 3.5x-6.5x for mid-market multi-shop operators, and 7x+ EBITDA for platform-eligible operators (multi-state, 10+ locations, $5M+ EBITDA, real estate optional). CT Acquisitions is buy-side: 76+ active U.S. acquirers across home and auto services, including most platforms profiled here. Every named platform, sponsor, and multiple on this page is sourced to a primary press release, SEC filing, or sponsor portfolio page. Subscription-gated figures are labeled.

Methodology and data sources

This tracker follows CT Acquisitions’ 5-tier source hierarchy for research-grade content:

1. Tier 1 — Press releases from sponsors, platforms, and their advisors (BusinessWire, PR Newswire, GlobeNewswire, sponsor.com/news, platform.com/news)
2. Tier 2 — SEC filings for public-company comparables (Driven Brands NASDAQ: DRVN, Monro NASDAQ: MNRO, Boyd Group TSX: BYD)
3. Tier 3 — Sponsor portfolio pages (current portfolio status, not historical)
4. Tier 4 — Trade press (Tire Review, Tire Business, Modern Tire Dealer, Ratchet+Wrench, Body Shop Business, Autobody News)
5. Tier 5 — M&A trade press (PE Hub, PE Professional, Focus Advisors, Matthews, PrivSource, Mergr)

Industry-data tier (multiples, market size): IBISWorld NAICS 811111, Peak Business Valuation, Auxo Capital Advisors, Jaken Equities, First Page Sage. All figures are 2024-2026 vintage; older data is labeled.

Verification window: All platform sponsors and scale figures verified May 2026. Recapitalizations, exits, and rollovers happen continuously; see “Future Updates” for the quarterly refresh cadence.

Inclusion criteria for “active platform”: (a) a verifiable current institutional sponsor or publicly traded ultimate parent, (b) at least 25 U.S. locations or $25M+ in revenue, (c) at least one verified add-on acquisition in the last 24 months or a stated active-acquirer posture on the platform’s website.

The 2026 auto repair PE landscape: why now

Three structural forces are concentrating capital in auto repair through 2026:

• Fragmentation runway. The U.S. industry is highly fragmented; the 50 largest companies generate less than 10% of total revenue, and independent shops account for roughly 70% of the market. Source: Grata NAICS 8111 market overview.
• Non-discretionary demand. Brake jobs, oil changes, alignment, and tire replacement do not pause in a recession. Insurance-mediated work (collision; covered in the auto body roll-up tracker) is even more recession-resistant.
• EV-cycle ambiguity is a feature, not a bug. Mechanical repair shops worry about EV transition, but the 2026 U.S. EV penetration of new sales is still well under 15%, the installed base is over 280M ICE vehicles, and the average vehicle age is 12.6 years (Bureau of Transportation Statistics). PE underwrites long ICE service tails.

The result: more than $5B of disclosed equity has been deployed into auto repair platforms since 2021, and at least 7 institutional platforms are actively buying in 2026.

Active platforms: profiles of 7 auto repair roll-up operators

Apex tier (national, $1B+ revenue or 1,000+ locations)

Mavis Tire Express Services — Sponsors: BayPine LP (lead), TSG Consumer Partners (partner), Golden Gate Capital (minority since 2021), West First Management. Scale: 1,100+ service centers across 27 states before its 2025 Midas acquisition; the deal added approximately 1,200 Midas locations across the U.S. and Canada. Brand family now includes Mavis Discount Tire, Mavis Tires & Brakes, Midas, Express Oil Change & Tire Engineers, Brakes Plus, Tire Kingdom, NTB, Town Fair Tire, and Tuffy. The platform is the most aggressive consolidator in tire-and-mechanical. BayPine acquisition announcement | Mavis completes Midas acquisition.

Sun Auto Tire & Service — Sponsor: Leonard Green & Partners (majority since September 2021); Greenbriar Equity Group (minority, retained). Scale: 350+ retail locations across the southwestern United States, offering tire replacement, brake repair, alignment, A/C, exhaust, and oil changes. Same sponsor stable as Caliber Collision; Leonard Green is one of the most experienced auto-aftermarket investors. Leonard Green acquisition (Tire Business) | Greenbriar portfolio page.

Growth tier ($250M-$1B revenue or 250-1,000 locations)

Big Brand Tire & Service — Sponsor: Percheron Capital (since 2021); $1.625B recapitalization in 2025 co-led by Blue Owl Capital, ICONIQ, and Warburg Pincus. Scale: 250+ retail stores; sixth-largest independent tire dealership in the United States (2025 MTD 100). Stated goal: quadruple store count over five years. Per Percheron, since their 2021 investment the company has grown revenue more than 10x and profitability more than 15x. Percheron Capital announcement | PR Newswire $1.625B recap.

Christian Brothers Automotive — Sponsor: Roark Capital portfolio brand. Scale: 310+ locations across 30 states at end of 2024; opened 24 new shops in 2025, executed 52 LOIs, welcomed 15 new franchisees, and entered Las Vegas and Reno markets (32nd state). Six-time J.D. Power #1 in Customer Satisfaction among Aftermarket Full-Service Maintenance and Repair Providers. Franchise model, not direct ownership; relevant to the tracker because Roark uses it as a platform-level holding. Christian Brothers 2025 expansion announcement.

Public-company / strategic tier (relevant as comparables)

Driven Brands Holdings (NASDAQ: DRVN) — Public company, 4,200+ locations across the U.S. and Canada, ~$1.9B annual revenue, $6.1B system-wide sales (FY2025). Take 5 Oil Change is the growth flagship: 1,200+ locations, 16% FY24 revenue growth, 7% FY24 same-store sales growth, and 18 consecutive quarters of same-store sales growth through Q2 2025. Divested U.S. car wash to Whistle Express for $385M in early 2025 to focus on Take 5. CARSTAR (~755 franchise units), Maaco, Meineke, Auto Glass Now, and 1-800-Radiator round out the brand family. Driven Brands (NASDAQ: DRVN) FY25 financials.

Monro Inc. (NASDAQ: MNRO) — Public company, 1,260 locations, second-largest automotive services company in North America by store count. FY25 revenue approximately $1.2B. Important context: Q4 FY25 sales declined 4.9% YoY; in May 2025 Monro announced the closure of 145 underperforming stores. Listed here as a comparable, not as an active acquirer in 2026. Operating brands include Monro, Mr. Tire, Tread Quarters, Autotire, Ken Towery’s, Tire Warehouse, and Tire Barn. Yahoo Finance: Monro 145-store closure announcement.

Specialty / regional tier

Discount Tire / America’s Tire (The Reinalt-Thomas Corporation) — Privately held by the Halle family, not PE-backed. Listed here because no auto-tire roll-up map is complete without it: ~1,250 retail locations across 40 U.S. states. As of 2024 they have acquired regional chains opportunistically (e.g., 25 Dunn Tire locations, December 2024). The largest independent tire retailer in the U.S. and the dominant family-held competitor to PE-backed Mavis, Sun Auto, and Big Brand. If you are evaluating buyer fit for a tire shop sale, this is the only non-institutional acquirer at national scale.

Acquisition velocity: what 2024-2026 tells us

Disclosed major auto repair / aftermarket equity events since 2021 (institutional capital):

• September 2021 — Leonard Green & Partners acquires majority of Sun Auto Tire from Greenbriar Equity (terms undisclosed).
• March 2021 — BayPine + TSG Consumer announce acquisition of Mavis Tire Express from Golden Gate Capital (terms undisclosed, deal closed mid-2021).
• 2021 — Percheron Capital invests in Big Brand Tire.
• October 2023 — Alpine Investors closes $3.4B single-asset continuation transaction for Apex Service Partners (HVAC/plumbing/electrical, not auto, but a useful precedent for home-and-auto-services platform-build economics). Source: Alpine Investors.
• February 2025 — Driven Brands sells U.S. car wash business to Whistle Express for $385M.
• June 2025 — Mavis completes acquisition of Midas (1,200+ locations) from TBC Corporation. Source: Tire Business.
• 2025 — Percheron Capital closes $1.625B recapitalization of Big Brand Tire co-led by Blue Owl, ICONIQ, and Warburg Pincus.

Note on private equity disclosure norms: Most platform-level auto repair transactions do not disclose enterprise value, EBITDA, or multiples. Where press accounts cite a number, we attribute it to the reporter; where multiples are quoted as ranges they reflect industry-data tier sources (Peak BV, Auxo Capital, Jaken Equities), not specific transactions.

Multiples and deal structure: what auto repair owners should expect

Auto repair valuation breaks cleanly into three operator tiers, each with a different buyer set and multiple range.

Owner-operator / single-shop tier

Multiple range: 2.0x – 4.5x SDE (Seller’s Discretionary Earnings).

Typical seller: $100K–$400K annual SDE, single location, owner working in the business. Buyer pool: individual operators, SBA-financed strategics, search-fund acquirers, regional consolidators looking for tuck-ins. Premium end (3.5x–4.5x SDE) requires strong customer retention, modern facility, manageable owner wrench time, transferable management, and an assumable lease (or owned real estate). Source: Peak Business Valuation | Jaken Equities.

Multi-shop operator (MSO) tier

Multiple range: 3.5x – 6.5x EBITDA for the operating business.

Typical seller: $500K–$5M EBITDA, 3–20 locations, regional brand, professional management in place. Buyer pool: PE-backed national platforms (Mavis, Sun Auto, Big Brand, Christian Brothers, Driven Brands), strategic competitors, and growth-stage PE looking for new platforms. Premium positioning factors: multi-state footprint, OEM certifications (especially for collision-adjacent work), DRP relationships, fleet/B2B mix, owned real estate. Source: Auxo Capital Advisors | Peak Business Valuation.

Platform-eligible tier

Multiple range: 7x – 10x+ EBITDA for platform-quality businesses.

Typical seller: $5M+ EBITDA, 10+ locations, multi-state, scalable systems, professional CFO and CEO, transferable brand. Buyer pool: middle-market and upper-middle-market PE looking for a new platform investment (not an add-on). Platform-eligibility premiums reflect (a) the platform owner role for the next sponsor’s roll-up build, (b) scarcity (only a handful of independent MSOs in the U.S. clear this bar), and (c) the “second bite of the apple” option through rollover equity. Industry-data sources rarely publish this tier because individual transactions are private; the 7x-10x band reflects CT Acquisitions’ active-buyer underwriting in 2024-2026 and is consistent with the Percheron / Leonard Green / BayPine deal economics where they have been disclosed.

Real estate is a separate question

Owned real estate is almost always valued separately at a cap rate (typically 6.5%–8.5% for general retail/service properties, 5.5%–7% for high-traffic urban locations with strong demographics). Most PE buyers prefer a sale-leaseback or a separate real estate transaction to a triple-net REIT (Realty Income, STORE Capital, Spirit Realty Capital). This often adds 10%–25% to total exit proceeds beyond the operating-business multiple.

Acquisition criteria: what these platforms look for

• Location count and state spread. Multi-state footprint compresses to 5.5x+ EBITDA fast. Single-state regional concentration reads as a regional add-on, not a platform.
• Repeat customer rate. 50%+ repeat ratio is the floor for premium multiples. Tire-replacement and oil-change models have natural recurring cycles; brake and alignment are episode-driven.
• Technician retention and ASE certification mix. Buyers underwrite the leadership and senior-technician bench, not just the EBITDA. High turnover or single-technician dependency are diligence-killers.
• Fleet and B2B revenue. Commercial fleet contracts (typically 20%–40% of revenue at premium operators) compress multiples up. Single-source fleet dependency (one customer >15% of revenue) compresses them down.
• DRP / insurance relationships (for combined mechanical + collision shops). DRP contracts with major insurers (State Farm, GEICO, Progressive, Allstate, USAA) are a multi-million-dollar valuation lever; see the collision-specific tracker for detail.
• Real estate ownership or long lease. 15+ years remaining on assumable leases, or owned real estate with a clean sale-leaseback structure, expand the buyer pool. Short leases or related-party landlord arrangements with no formal terms are common diligence blockers.
• Financial systems. A real shop-management system (Tekmetric, Shop-Ware, R.O. Writer, Mitchell 1) plus a separate accounting system (QuickBooks Enterprise minimum; NetSuite or Sage Intacct preferred above $25M revenue) with monthly close inside 15 days is the floor for institutional buyers.

What this means for auto repair owners considering an exit

Three operator-tier strategies, in order of typical exit value:

1. If you are a single-shop owner-operator, your realistic exit is 2.5x–4.0x SDE plus real estate (separately, at cap-rate value). Pre-sale prep over 18–24 months focused on owner-extraction, financial-systems cleanup, technician retention, and a recurring-revenue program (oil change subscriptions, maintenance plans) can push you from the bottom of the range to the top.
2. If you are a 3-20 location MSO, your realistic exit is 4x–6.5x EBITDA from PE-backed national platforms or growth-stage PE. The key levers between 4x and 6.5x are multi-state footprint, professional management depth, real-estate quality, and customer-concentration scrubbing. Build a 12-month pre-sale plan with a sell-side QofE provider and a real M&A advisor; the auto repair M&A market is sufficiently active that broker-led processes (without a real advisor) are leaving 0.5x-1.5x of EBITDA on the table.
3. If you are platform-eligible ($5M+ EBITDA, multi-state, 10+ locations), your realistic exit is 7x–10x+ EBITDA from middle-market PE, with rollover equity for a meaningful second exit in 3–5 years. The marketing strategy is closer to a corporate-development sale than a standard auction; the buyer universe is small (maybe 25 institutional acquirers genuinely capable of underwriting a $50M+ platform deal in auto repair), and the right buyer fit matters more than peak headline multiple.

CT Acquisitions runs a buy-side advisory; we represent the buyer universe profiled above. If you are considering an exit, the Owner’s Exit Checklist and Selling to PE guides cover the process end-to-end.

Limitations of this analysis

• Platform-level financial terms are typically private. Most disclosed transactions in auto repair report neither enterprise value, EBITDA, nor multiple. The 7x–10x+ platform-tier range reflects industry-data sources and CT Acquisitions’ active-engagement underwriting; it does not reflect a specific named transaction.
• Industry-data tier multiples are aggregated. Peak Business Valuation and Auxo Capital Advisors publish blended ranges across regional differences, vehicle-mix differences, and customer-mix differences that we collapse here. The right way to use these ranges is as a starting point for a transaction-specific valuation, not an answer.
• Subscription-gated figures are labeled. Where we cite IBISWorld market sizing or GF Data multi-band multiples, the underlying report is paywalled; we cite the publisher but cannot quote the full report.
• Christian Brothers Automotive is a franchise model. We include it because Roark Capital underwrites it at the platform level, but unit-level economics work differently from the company-owned MSOs (Mavis, Sun Auto, Big Brand). Owner-operators considering a franchise exit should consult the franchise’s resale process before this tracker.
• Boyd Group is profiled separately in the auto body / collision tracker because its core US footprint (Gerber Collision, plus the January 2026 acquisition of Joe Hudson’s Collision Center) is collision-focused, not mechanical.
• Discount Tire / The Reinalt-Thomas Corporation is family-held, not PE-backed. We include it because it is the largest non-institutional acquirer in tire and is relevant buyer-archetype context.
• Monro Inc.’s 145-store 2025 closure reflects portfolio rationalization, not an exit from the M&A landscape, but it does mean Monro is not an active acquirer in 2026.
• This tracker focuses on mechanical / tire / quick-lube. Auto body / collision is structurally different (insurance-mediated, DRP-driven, separate sponsor stable) and gets its own tracker.

Future updates and methodology notes

Refresh cadence: quarterly. The next scheduled refresh is August 24, 2026. Refresh triggers (any of):

• A new institutional sponsor enters the U.S. auto repair platform space (new platform inclusion).
• An existing platform is recapitalized, sold to a strategic, or files for IPO (status change).
• An existing platform exits the active-acquirer posture for two consecutive quarters (removal review).
• Industry-data tier sources publish a new annual multiples report (multiples reconciliation).

How to flag corrections: Every named platform on this page is sourced to a primary press release, SEC filing, or sponsor portfolio page. If you believe a sponsor attribution, scale figure, or transaction date is wrong, the fastest path to a correction is an email to hello@ctacquisitions.com with the primary source (press release URL or SEC filing) that contradicts what we have published. We re-verify and patch within 5 business days.

What this tracker does not do: We do not publish private-deal pricing without primary-source attribution, we do not name buyers in active CT engagements, and we do not produce projections about future multiples or platform behavior.

Related research

• Private Equity in Auto Body and Collision Repair 2026 — the companion tracker for the insurance-mediated side of the industry.
• Auto Repair Shop Valuation — the operator-facing valuation deep-dive (single-shop and multi-shop).
• How to Sell an Auto Repair Shop — the sell-side process guide for mechanical operators.
• Lower Middle Market Buyer Mandate Report 2026 — 100+ active U.S. acquirers profiled across home and auto services.
• Owner’s Exit Checklist — 24-item pre-sale preparation framework.

Sources and references

Every named platform, sponsor, and scale figure on this page is sourced to a primary press release, SEC filing, or sponsor portfolio page. Industry-data tier (multiples, market size) draws on the named industry research publishers. Subscription-gated figures are labeled in body where used.

• BayPine announcement of Mavis Tire acquisition (with TSG Consumer) — Mavis platform sponsor structure
• Tire Business: Mavis completes Midas acquisition — June 2025 Midas integration (1,200+ locations)
• Tire Business: Leonard Green acquires Sun Auto Tire — Sun Auto sponsor transition (Sept 2021)
• Greenbriar Equity portfolio: Sun Auto Tire & Service — minority retention by Greenbriar
• Percheron Capital: Big Brand Tire $1.625B recapitalization — 2025 recap details
• PR Newswire: Percheron Big Brand Tire $1.625B recap — co-investor structure (Blue Owl, ICONIQ, Warburg Pincus)
• PR Newswire: Christian Brothers Automotive 2025 franchise expansion — Roark Capital portfolio platform scale
• Driven Brands (NASDAQ: DRVN) FY2025 financials (StockAnalysis) — Take 5 / CARSTAR / Maaco / Meineke scale and growth
• Monro Inc. (NASDAQ: MNRO) FY2025 financials (StockAnalysis) + Yahoo Finance: 145-store closure — 1,260 location footprint, 145-store closure announcement
• Peak Business Valuation: Automotive Repair Valuation Multiples — SDE 2.0x-4.5x, EBITDA 3.5x-6.5x ranges
• Auxo Capital Advisors: Auto Repair & Collision EBITDA Multiples — mid-market 3.5x-6.5x EBITDA cross-check
• Jaken Equities: Auto Repair Shop Valuation — SDE/EBITDA framework for owner-operator tier
• Grata: NAICS 8111 Automotive Repair and Maintenance Market Overview — ~70% independent share, 50 largest firms generate <10% of revenue
• IBISWorld: NAICS 811111 General Automotive Repair — subscription-gated industry sizing reference
• GF Data — subscription-gated LMM EBITDA multiples by deal size band
• Axial: EBITDA Multiples by Industry (lower-middle-market benchmark synthesis) — small-business / SDE transaction medians
• CT Acquisitions Roll-Up Tracker series — plumbing, roofing, pest control, dental DSO, manufacturing — companion methodology and verification standards.

Last verified: May 24, 2026. Next refresh: quarterly (target 2026-08-24).

Disclaimer: This tracker is general market intelligence, not investment, legal, or tax advice. Multiples and outcomes by operator tier are illustrative; actuals vary with deal structure, geography, and buyer fit. CT Acquisitions is a buy-side advisor; we represent acquirers and may have active engagements with platforms profiled here.