It puts us in a phenomenal position moving forward to ensure the health and the viability of our members long-term.”Ĭombining Pronto and the Network created a stronger unit, as the two groups complemented one another’s strengths and weaknesses, he said. It’s a great insurance policy for both the membership of the Network and Pronto. So, this is a great opportunity for us to put ourselves in a stronger position as that happens. “It’s happening amongst our vendor partners, it’s happening amongst our distributors, it’s happening amongst our customers, even all the way down to the service-center chains. “Consolidation is happening in our industry,” Roos said. That was certainly the case for the Automotive Distribution Network and is clearly the case now with the merger of Pronto and The Network. While longtime names in the industry may now be distant memories in most situations, the culture, reputation and footprint behind those founding buying groups only added to the strength of the new organizations. (Bill) Menghini, who opened his first auto parts store in 1926, and in 1941 started one of the first warehouse distributor companies in the country, before founding National Pronto Association in the late 1970s.įor decades now, the automotive distribution segment has seen significant consolidation. Pronto was founded by one of the earliest pioneers of warehouse distribution, William J. In 2014, Automotive Distribution Network merged CMB into Auto Pride, leaving Auto Pride and Parts Plus as the two primary brand names that will continue to be used going forward, along with the Pronto brand. In 2009, the group added CMB Network and in early 2010, the Auto Pride Network was included. In 2005, Parts Plus merged with Independent Auto Parts of America. In 1981, AAAD licensed the Parts Plus trademark and that became the primary banner for the business. The Network made its beginnings as the Association of Automotive Aftermarket Distributors (AAAD). “So, we were commiserating a little bit about that and the more we talked, the more we realized how much we were alike as far as issues, members, etc., and it just became a kind of a natural fit,” Prater added.Īnother area of common ground: Both Pronto and the Network were founded in 1977. Prater replaced longtime Network head Mike Lambert, who retired in 2015 Roos succeeded veteran Bill Maggs, who went on to accept an EVP role with Pronto member Parts Authority. “We both took over for people who had run the group for long periods of time,” Prater said. Prater noted that he and Roos connected quickly, having some common ground in their career trajectories. We knew we wanted to get it done before the end of the year and thank goodness we were able to put it together and get it announced.” “If we would have had our way, we could have had this done a lot sooner, but COVID, and some other things, made it more difficult to get through everything. “We started forming the idea of this merger and then COVID and everything that’s going on in the world slowed us down a little bit,” Roos said. Given the size and scope of both organizations – and considering the fact that there was a pandemic going on – things progressed rather swiftly, Roos said. That put Robert in a room together with me for the first time and we kind of hit it off and it flourished from there,” Prater said, noting that serious merger talks didn’t begin until mid-year.Īccording to Forbes magazine, most mergers and acquisitions can take a long period of time from start to finish – anywhere from four to six months. “I think truthfully the rumors you may have heard at the beginning of the year surrounded the four program groups getting together to work on some national account business together. While rumors of consolidation among two major program groups was in the air in early 2020, those rumors were really only the beginning, Prater said. In addition, Pronto Automotive Distribution Network, together with Federated Auto Parts, will comprise the Automotive Parts Services Group (The Group). The combined organization will represent more than 250 members in North America with an estimated revenue of approximately $5 billion annually. Roos, who was named president of Pronto in 2019, will be based out of the Grapevine headquarters. Prater, who has served as president of the Automotive Distribution Network since 2015, will remain in Germantown, Tennessee, with his team. The newly merged group will be headquartered in Grapevine, Texas, and will be led by Robert Roos as president and David Prater as executive vice president. 1, the newly formed organization is now known as Pronto Automotive Distribution Network. 9, the leadership of National Pronto Association (Pronto) and Automotive Distribution Network (The Network) announced their merger.
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