Driven Brands Acquires Auto Glass Fitters

Driven Brands Holdings Inc. has announced the acquisition of Auto Glass Fitters, writing in a news release that the development makes it the “second largest player in the U.S. auto glass repair, replacement, and calibration category.”

Driven Brands entered the $5 billion auto glass services market early in fiscal year 2022. The company wrote that the most recent acquisition enhances its presence in the industry, and that the addition brings Driven Brands’ total number of locations to more than 160 along with nearly 700 mobile units across 41 states.

Auto Glass Fitters will now have access to shared service capabilities such as data analytics, direct-to-consumer marketing, procurement, and commercial customer relationship management including the company’s insurance and fleet relationships.

“We have significant momentum across our auto glass service business, propelling us to quickly become one of the dominant players in the category. Auto Glass Fitters has been on an incredible growth trajectory growing sales 25% year-over-year with over 100% growth in glass calibration and we’re thrilled to add another phenomenal team to our growing Driven Glass family,” says Michael Macaluso, EVP and group president of Paint, Collision, and Glass. “Glass continues to be one of our focus areas of growth given its highly compelling economics including sales, 4-Wall EBITDA margins, and cash-on-cash returns. As we scale our already rapidly growing national presence, we have a massive opportunity to unlock the B2B potential by extending our glass services to our existing insurance, fleet, and other commercial relationships – furthering the already compelling economics of this business.”

Auto Glass Fitters has been in business for more than a decade with coverage in more than 35 states through a combination of service locations and mobile units.

“I’m deeply grateful for all the support our Auto Glass Fitters family has provided to the many communities we serve and for helping grow the business to become what it is today. I am humbled to see how much we have accomplished,” says Richard Rutta, Auto Glass Fitters’ founder. “I’m excited to see what our amazing team can achieve with the resources and capabilities that Driven Brands will bring to the business.”

“We’ve demonstrated our ability to build and scale the glass business, becoming a leader in the category in such a short period, following our playbook for growth,” Macaluso continues. “Once we further scale our glass business, we will be the only player in the category to provide a nationwide footprint for paint, collision, and glass services together.”