Family-owned Les Schwab Tire Centers sold to California investment group
Family-owned Les Schwab Tire Centers, staples for years in Northern California and throughout the West, has been purchased by a California hedge fund for an undisclosed amount.
Schwab reached the deal with San Francisco-based Meritage Group ending nearly seven decades of family ownership, the Portland Oregonian reported.
Les Schwab Tire Centers is based in Bend, Ore., and is one of that state’s best-known businesses.
“The decision to sell has always been about securing the long-term success of the company,” Schwab CEO Jack Cuniff said in a statement on its website Tuesday announcing the sale.
Saying they are “thrilled with the outcome,” Schwab family members in a statement said with the sale, “the company’s long-term outlook, the opportunities for employees and the tremendous importance of our customers will remain as Grandpa always imagined.”
Les Schwab operates nearly 500 locations across 10 states including stores throughout California and in Idaho, Oregon and Washington. The greater Sacramento area is home to more than 20 Les Schwab locations.
Schwab officials have said any new owner would not break up the company and that its headquarters would remain in Bend, The Oregonian reported.
The family-owned Schwab first announced it was considering a sale in December, the Idaho Statesman reported. It was a shock to many, the newspaper said, after years of patriarch Les Schwab rejecting potential suitors including heavyweights Francois Michelin and billionaire Warren Buffett. Schwab died in 2007 at 89.
The Statesman called the decision to sell “a historic and surprising move,” in December, but added that after Schwab’s death, the responsibility of running the sprawling 10-state operation went to his four grandchildren who were not as involved in the business as their parents and grandparents. Family members acknowledged the challenges in a December statement, the Statesman reported.
“Given the complexities of a fifth-generation family business and managing a company of our size, we are at an important point in the life of Les Schwab Tire Centers,” the statement read. “As our family grows and ages, it is increasingly critical to us that ownership remain committed and aligned behind our grandfather’s vision.”
Schwab family members echoed those remarks Tuesday while giving new owners Meritage a vote of confidence, as reported by The Oregonian.
“While it was hard to make the decision to sell the company, we are very confident that Meritage Group will ...build on all we have accomplished over the past 68 years.”
This story was originally published September 30, 2020 at 12:52 PM with the headline "Family-owned Les Schwab Tire Centers sold to California investment group."
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