Reference no: EM131924397

CASE STUDY:

All Numbers are in $ Canada…You do not have to translate into US $. However, all principals of finance and accounting in the US are the same in Canada.

Mr. Lube Canada Limited Partnership ("Mr. Lube") is a privately held company that manages a complete automotive maintenance services provider and Canada's largest quick lube brand. Founded in 1976, Mr. Lube pioneered the Canadian quick lube industry, a category of automotive servicing focused on convenience with no appointment necessary. Mr. Lube's network of 170 stores are operated by a national network of franchisees.

Each store must be open a minimum of six (6) days a week. Some are open seven (7) days a week. The stores, on average, are open 338 days per year. Each store has approximately 10 appointments per day and each appointment produces, on average,        $ 100 of revenue per customer per visit. Before the franchisees get to pay any of their bills, including employee salaries, they must pay 10% of gross revenue to the parent company, “Mr. Lube”,  who is the franchisor.

In early 2015, our Corporate Finance Deals team was retained by Mr Lube as its exclusive financial advisor to maximize value for the owners.  After looking at the alternatives, including going public, we concluded that the company should sell control or the whole company to an acquirer.

Our approach

We led all aspects of the deal process, which included:

Pricing the enterprise.

identifying potential acquirers;

marketing the business;

advising on negotiations and structuring;

assisting with definitive agreements; and

ultimately closing the transaction.

How we add value

Mr. Lube attracted significant interest from both local and international acquirers that we had identified and contacted. On August 19, 2015, Diversified Royalty Corp. acquired the trademarks and certain other intellectual property of Mr Lube for approximately $138.9 million. This transaction, defined as an asset sale, in effect sold the whole company, as we advised. The trust that owned the assets received 75% cash and 25% debt, secured by the assets of the company.

Please answer the following questions:

What is your opinion regarding a valuation for the assets of Mr. Lube, and, therefore, was this a fair price for the transaction?

What issues beyond a pure mathematical calculation may influence your thinking on valuation and the acceptability of the price paid?

List as many of the assets that were sold as possible. (Do NOT answer by just repeating what is in the case study).

Are there any remaining risks to the Trust (the seller) ??? And if there are risks, what are they?

Would you have done anything differently regarding this sale then what was done?