Henley Investments, a leading private equity real estate firm based in the UK and the USA, has announced the acquisition of five Water Works car wash locations in greater Greensboro, NC, with the intention to modernise the equipment at each facility to dramatically increase daily vehicle washing capacity.
The in-bay car wash facilities will be converted to full tunnel and mini tunnel express wash configurations, increasing capacity at each from 10 vehicles per hour to up to 130 per hour. "This is a new brand of acquisition for us, but it fits very well with our overall philosophy of capturing strong opportunities when we see them," said Henley CEO Ian Rickwood.
"The car wash industry has a low degree of revenue volatility and is relatively insulated from economic ups and downs, given that it is affordable for consumers, who tend to view car washing as a staple service," Mr. Rickwood added.
Henley's renovation of the car wash locations to express configurations – in which the vehicle moves through the tunnel on a conveyor, and multiple vehicles can be washed and processed through at once – will greatly increase the profitability of these locations.
Drivers remain in their cars during the wash sequence, and different wash types and other services like wax application, undercarriage washing and wheel brightening can be individually programmed for each vehicle.
"The modernisation of these car wash facilities will provide a great new convenience for Greensboro area drivers," said Garrett Solomon, Henley's Chief Investment Officer for North America. "The new equipment will improve efficiency, give customers more wash service options, and reduce their time spent for a car wash, without dramatically changing the cost of the service."
Henley has recently closed on the five Greensboro car wash facilities, and the equipment upgrades and renovations for all six facilities are projected to be completed by early spring of 2020. Henley is actively pursuing additional stand-alone and portfolio acquisition opportunities across the US.
Henley is a leading private equity real estate investor focusing on development, investment and asset management in the commercial, residential, healthcare, land infrastructure, debt and other alternative real estate assets. Since inception, Henley has approximately doubled in size every year. The company currently has approximately $2 billion in assets under management.
With offices in Boston, Massachusetts; Newport Beach, California; and Naples, Florida, Henley's North American operations are led by Garrett Solomon, who previously founded the award-winning, nationally recognised residential land development and management company, Corbelis. Prior to forming Corbelis in 2012, Solomon spent almost two decades with a series of well-known real estate private equity firms.
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