Halfords has agreed to buy tyre and automotive servicing, maintenance, and repair company National for £62 million.

The motoring and cycling retailer said that a further investment of £17 million will be made post-acquisition on associated capital expenditure and £2 million on integration costs.

National operates under a number of brands, including National Tyres and Autocare, Viking Wholesale Tyres, and Tyre Shopper.

Following completion of the takeover, National will be integrated into Halfords' Autocentres business.

Halfords said that the move would deliver on its plans to evolve into a business more heavily weighted towards motoring services.

The acquisition will accelerate Halfords' motoring services strategy, surpassing its current target of 550 garages and 200 consumer vans.

Post-completion, Halfords will have approximately 604 garages, 234 consumer vans, and 190 commercial vans. Including retail stores this will mean a combined total of over 1,400 fixed or mobile motoring services locations.


The company said that post-acquisition, motoring revenue is expected to represent more than 70 per cent of the Group's revenue, an increase from 67 per cent.

"This acquisition helps cement our position as the UK's largest vehicle service, maintenance and repair business,” said Graham Stapleton, chief executive of Halfords. “It will also see us deliver on our established strategy of evolving Halfords to become a Motoring Services focused business, with Motoring revenue set to represent more than 70 per cent of our pro-forma revenue following the acquisition.”

Stapleton added: “National has a high quality, UK-wide network of garages and mobile tyre fitting vans, and 1,400 highly skilled colleagues, providing a complementary fit with Halfords' existing operations. Post-acquisition, Halfords will have over 1,400 fixed or mobile Motoring Services locations, servicing a broad range of vehicles and delivering 7.5 million motoring jobs a year. This increased scale will bring the majority of UK-mainland motorists within a 20-minute drive of a Halfords garage, with even more vans available to provide mobile services at their home or work.”

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