Toronto, Ontario -- The leaders of the conglomerate that owns CARSTAR courted institutional investors during a recent conference in New York last week.
On September 4, Driven Brands' chief executive officer Daniel Rivera (right) and chief financial officer Mike Diamond (left) spoke at Goldman Sachs’ 32nd annual Global Retailing Conference.
“We’ve got roughly 4,800 locations across North America, with about 85 percent franchised,” Rivera told investors, according to a transcript published by Investing.com.
“That scale gives us about [US]$6.5 billion in system-wide sales and [US]$2 billion in revenue. And we’re still just getting started.”
Valued at US$2.98 billion, Driven Brands owns a number of well-recognized aftermarket franchises, including: Take 5 Oil Change and Meineke to Maaco and CARSTAR.
Rivera mentioned Maaco shops were experiencing a difficult market environment . “Estimates are down about ten percent year-over-year,” he said, adding that this was due to higher deductibles, rising premiums and an increase in total losses. "Even in that environment, we’re taking [our] share. Our franchise owner-operators deliver for insurance carriers. That’s why we’re winning.”
Rivera hyped the fast-lube brand Take 5 with a simple pitch: stay in your car, get a 10-minute oil change. “We’re opening more than 150 Take 5 locations every year,” he said. “By year three, those shops are averaging US$1.4 million in sales with about 40 percent four-wall EBITDA margins. That’s growth, that’s profitability, and it’s resonating with customers.”
Diamond hammered the financials. “Maaco delivered EBITDA margins of about 61 percent in the last quarter,” he said. “That shows how strong the franchise model is, even when the top line is under pressure.” He also said Driven’s diverse portfolio shields it from broader industry shocks: “Whether it’s EV adoption, economic slowdown or weather, our mix of essential services and strong brands positions us to keep delivering.”
Rivera insisted the company isn’t rattled by the rise of electric vehicles. “Our business is largely EV-agnostic,” he said. “Oil changes may evolve, but collision repair, paint, car washes -- those needs don’t go away.”
He added that Driven Brands believes the collision sector will keep growing into the 2030s.
