Apollo Motor Group and Balgores Motors complete their disposal to Steer Automotive Group

Automotive repair groups Apollo Motor Group and Balgores Motors have been sold to Aylesbury-based Steer Automotive Group.

Apollo Motor Group was founded in 1985 by Graham and Tracy Eyles, and has steadily expanded over the last twenty years into the powerhouse it is today with 20 sites located across the South East and South West of England, focussing on providing first class repair services to their long list of insurer clients. Led by the current management team of Paul Clements, Chris Dore, Bradley Eyles and Mark Fletcher the business has a strong reputation nationally for the quality of its operations and in particular its focus on their staff and Academy for which they have won numerous awards.

Balgores Motors was founded in 1982 by owner, Paul Austin. With a strong regional footprint based out of Essex, the business has grown into 12 sites with a heavy bias towards prestige Vehicle Manufacturer approvals which are the envy of many operations. Led by Gary Dench, Steve Austin and Andy Pennell the company has a reputation for the technical quality of its repair operations and the culture of the workforce, many of whom have achieved long service awards.

With the shareholders having successfully grown Apollo and Balgores into leading accident repair shops in the industry, the acquisition by Steer will allow the shareholders to realise the significant value created in the businesses to date. They look forward to seeing the ongoing growth of the combined group over the coming years.

The two businesses total 32 repair locations, £90m turnover and 700 staff and their acquisition builds on Steer’s network, extending further into the south of England and increasing Steer’s scale and capacity in the region. Plans are already in place to continue to the development with a number of new sites planned over the second half of the year.

corporate finance advisory firm HMT acted as lead advisors on the transaction which included running a strongly competitive sale process, negotiating key agreements, supporting the business through an extensive due diligence process and project managing the deal to a successful completion.

Steer Automotive Group was recently recognised as one of The Sunday Times 100, Britain's fastest-growing private companies.

Richard Steer, Chief Executive, said: “I have known Graham, Tracy and Paul for many years and have watched the successful development of their businesses into the superb operations they are today. We have a clear focus on acquiring strong well established businesses that support our growth strategy and when the opportunity presented itself we jumped at the chance to add Apollo and Balgores to our operations. I’d like to personally thank Graham, Tracy and Paul for trusting us with the next chapter in the development of their companies. We are very excited about the prospects and look forward to working with the incumbent management teams on the journey ahead."

Wendy Hart, Partner at independent corporate finance advisory firm, HMT, said: “The sale of Apollo and Balgores to Steer Automotive has delivered an excellent result for the existing shareholders and the businesses themselves. Graham, Tracy and Paul have developed their businesses over many years into highly successful operations. The acquisition by Steer Automotive Group allows the combined group to continue its exciting growth plans as part of a larger organisation providing further significant future prospects.

Graham and Tracy Eyles said “We’re very proud of what we’ve built at Apollo and when we decided it was time to let someone else take on the baton it was clear that Richard and the team at Steer were the obvious choice to do that. We’d like to thank all our colleagues, customers and partners over the years who have helped us along the way”.

Paul Austin said “Over the last 40 years Balgores has become synonymous with quality repairs and outstanding customer service but now is the time for Steer Automotive Group to take the business forward. I look forward to seeing the business continue to prosper and thank everyone involved who has supported us in making Balgores what it is today”.

Apollo Motors Group, Balgores Motors take the existing Steer portfolio to 93 repair locations and over 2,200 colleagues.