Collision repair is one of the most consolidated parts of U.S. auto services, and consolidation is still under way. Focus Advisors estimated in mid-2025 that the five largest operators held approximately 31.7% of revenue market share nationwide. Mechanical repair is less concentrated, but it produced 2026's largest deal: Mavis's purchase of Pep Boys for approximately $700 million in cash.
M&A activity snapshot
Collision deal volume has slowed sharply since 2024 while the field of buyers has widened. Focus Advisors counts 300+ locations added by consolidators in H1 2024, 200+ in H1 2025 and 81 in H1 2026. That 2026 figure excludes Gerber's purchase of Joe Hudson's; including it, first-half additions were 339 locations.
The defining deal was Boyd Group's acquisition of Joe Hudson's Collision Center. Boyd agreed to pay $1.3 billion and added 258 complementary locations in the US Southeast, closing in January 2026. Focus Advisors notes it combined the second- and fifth-largest operators by store count into a 1,301-shop North American enterprise.
Outside that deal, the largest consolidators grew slowly in 2025. Focus Advisors' year-end count shows Caliber Collision at 1,863 locations, up 1.9%, and Crash Champions at 662, up 1.2%. Classic Collision was the exception, growing 11.6% to 346 locations.
Mechanical and tire-and-service chains are consolidating on a separate track. Mavis bought Midas in June 2025, reaching more than 3,500 locations including nearly 1,300 franchised locations. The Pep Boys deal then added nearly 800 locations, taking the network past 4,400. Monro went the other way, operating 1,115 stores at March 28, 2026, a count that reflects 145 stores closed in the first quarter of fiscal 2026.
Across the wider automotive aftermarket, Capstone Partners counted 194 transactions year to date in October 2025, 15.7% below the 230 deals a year earlier. Private equity buyers made up 50.6% of total sector deal volume. That count covers parts and services together, so treat it as a proxy for repair-shop activity.
Who is buying
National collision consolidators. Caliber, Gerber, Crash Champions and Classic Collision make up what Focus Advisors calls the Big Four. They increasingly build rather than buy: Gerber added 21 locations in the first half, more than half of them greenfield or brownfield builds. Boyd, Gerber's parent, says it remains a modest share of a highly fragmented industry of approximately 30,000 repair locations.
PE-backed regional platforms. These are now the most active acquirers. CollisionRight, Quality Collision Group, VIVE Collision, Puget Collision and others collectively grew five to seven times faster than the Big Four in H1 2026. Focus Advisors counted 14 PE-backed consolidators now actively acquiring at the end of 2025. Capstone's deal log shows Summit Partners acquiring CollisionRight and TPG Capital acquiring Classic Collision as private equity platforms in early 2024.
Capital waiting to enter. Focus Advisors is in touch with more than 130 private equity firms still actively looking at collision repair. It says more than $9 billion of capital has been deployed into the sector since late 2023.
Tire and mechanical chains. Mavis is the largest consolidator here. PE-backed regional chains also buy, such as Audax-backed Dobbs Tire & Auto Centers, which acquired Conrad's Tire Express & Total Car Care in 2025. Monro states that the fragmentation of our industry allows for many opportunities for consolidation.
OEM-owned networks, as competition. Tesla grew its collision footprint from 60 locations in January 2026 to 67 in July 2026. Focus Advisors reports buyers are increasingly discounting Tesla-generated revenue in their offers.
What buyers look for
Insurer DRP relationships and OEM certifications. Focus Advisors found 2025 results varied widely by operator based on market positioning, DRP relationships, OEM certifications, and operational efficiency. Direct repair program volume matters more when claims shrink. Boyd estimated repairable claims were down an estimated 9-10% in the first quarter of 2025, with the fourth-quarter decline in the range of 2-4%.
ADAS scanning and calibration. CCC reports that 28.3% of repairable estimates now include calibrations. Capstone found only 11% of repair and collision shops offered in-house ADAS calibration services in 2024. Boyd raised its U.S. internalization of scanning and calibration services to 75% in the fourth quarter of 2025 from 53% a year earlier.
Technicians. Buyers are buying a workforce. BLS projects about 13,900 openings for automotive body and glass repairers each year. It projects about 66,200 openings for automotive service technicians and mechanics a year. Monro reports more difficulty hiring skilled technicians than pre-pandemic.
Earnings that survive diligence. In 2025, when projected EBITDA didn't hold up in Quality of Earnings examinations, some buyers walked away or re-priced. Landlord and environmental issues also delayed closings.
Exposure to total losses. A totaled car is not repaired. CCC reports total loss frequency reached 23.1% of claims, a new industry high, which shrinks the repairable pool every shop competes for.
What makes a strong company
A collision or mechanical shop that draws competitive bids typically has:
- Several insurer DRPs, with no single carrier large enough to sink a year if it drops the shop.
- OEM certifications for the brands common in its market, and limited reliance on any one OEM's referrals.
- In-house scanning and calibration equipment and trained staff, rather than sublet calibration work.
- A stable technician roster with documented pay plans, and a lead technician or manager who stays after closing.
- Cycle time, customer satisfaction and severity tracked monthly in the format insurers use on their scorecards.
- For mechanical shops, tracked car count and average repair order, with a maintenance base that repeats.
- A long lease or owned property with a clean environmental record, since these issues have delayed closings.
- Trailing EBITDA that reconciles cleanly in a Quality of Earnings review.
Valuation and deal structure
Public data on single-shop and small-MSO multiples is thin; no government or LMM data provider reports it separately. The best-documented recent price is a platform deal. Boyd's price for Joe Hudson's represented 13.3x JHCC Adjusted EBITDA assuming run-rate adjustments, net of tax benefits. Including synergies it was 9.3x JHCC Adjusted EBITDA, for a business with $722 million in sales.
Smaller businesses should not expect that price. Focus Advisors says EBITDA multiples for premium assets are holding firm and that falling valuations reflect falling trailing earnings. Its own illustration: at a 7.0x multiple, a 10% revenue decline can translate into a 20% or more drop in enterprise value.
Public auto service chains show a wide spread. In Capstone's April 2025 comparables, Driven Brands traded at 10.7x and Monro at 5.5x EV/EBITDA. Those are trading multiples for large public companies, not private-shop deal prices.
Structure varies with buyer size. Boyd funded Joe Hudson's partly through a $897 million bought deal initial public offering in the U.S.. For smaller deals, the sourced pattern is longer diligence and price changes after Quality of Earnings, as noted above. Earnouts, rollover equity and lease terms are negotiated case by case; no source tracks them for this vertical. To see where your own numbers sit, use the valuation tool.
Outlook
Focus Advisors expects a marked step-up in activity as we approach the fourth quarter and carrying through 2027. Demand is stabilizing at a lower level: it estimates industry revenue declined just under 5% year-on-year.
The fleet is aging, which favors mechanical repair and complicates collision repair. CCC counts 12 million fewer vehicles 6 years old or newer in operation as of Q3 2025 relative to 2020. Focus Advisors notes the average car age has climbed to a record 12.95 years, pushing some collision operators into mechanical work.
Over the next 12-24 months, expect smaller PE-backed platforms to keep doing most of the collision acquiring. Expect the national consolidators to keep mixing acquisitions with new builds. In mechanical repair, the open question is how fast Mavis integrates Pep Boys and whether other chains follow Monro in closing weak stores.
Own an auto repair or collision business and want a read on value before talking to buyers? Run the valuation tool, or see the wider Automotive & Equipment industry page. See also: why vertical-specific buyers outperform generalists in outbound.