Turbo Wholesale Tires, founded by Sarkis Sepetijian in 1983, has partnered with an investor, Kingswood Capital Management, and also named veteran tire executives Phillip Kane and Larry Jeffries, as CEO and president, respectively.
Sepetjian and the Sepetjian family are retaining "significant ownership" in the company, and joining Kingswood on the board of directors.
Turbo Wholesale Tires designs, supplies and wholesales both proprietary and third-party branded tires from more than a half-million square feet of combined warehouse space in the U.S.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with Sarkis and the Sepetjian family, who have done an excellent job growing Turbo’s business over the last decade and building an impressive portfolio of brands, including the company’s proprietary Lexani, Lionheart, and RBP owned brands,” said Michael Niegsch, partner of Kingswood. “The investment of growth capital and the additions of Phillip Kane and Larry Jeffries to the Turbo management team position the company well to pursue accelerated growth and offer customers additional products and services.”
“With the Kingswood partnership and the addition of Phillip Kane and Larry Jeffries to our management team, we are ready to drive the next phase of growth at Turbo,” says Sarkis Sepetjian, founder of Turbo. “The capital and support provided by Kingswood give us the opportunity to execute upon and realize the additional growth initiatives we have long wanted to pursue. It was critically important to our family to pick a partner that would care for our employees, customers, and supplier partners the way we do and support us in continuing to do things the right way. Kingswood will do just that.”
Alex Wolf, managing partner of Kingswood, says, “The Turbo transaction represents another example of Kingswood’s expertise in partnering with family and owner-operated businesses. The success we and our partners have had in these situations is an important part of Kingswood’s strategy. We are excited about investing in and supporting Turbo’s continued growth and look forward to our partnership with Sarkis and the Sepetjian family.”
Cerberus Business Finance provided the company with a new debt facility as part of the transaction.
