You probably know someone who has a story about how Jiffy Lube did them wrong, and they vowed to never go back. Still, for better or worse, quick oil change shops like them are the backbone of basic maintenance for a wide segment of the population, and plenty of drivers are return customers. For approximately 25 years, Jiffy Lube was actually owned by Shell. As of this month, it now belongs to a private equity firm called Monomoy Capital Partners.
The sale agreement was signed in March, but on July 1, Monomoy announced The deal was completed at $1.3 billion. Today, Jiffy Lube consists of approximately 2,000 service centers across North America, all run by independent operators. The company started in 1971 in Utah. Twenty years later, it was taken over by Pennzoil, which later merged with Quaker State, before both were acquired by Shell in 2002.
Recently, Jiffy Lube contributed 6.5% of Shell’s total lubricants business wall street journal. For Shell, the move is seen as part of a broader shift to sell off “non-core” interests, which is also Properties involved in offshore drilling. Pennzoil Quaker State, which is remaining with Shell, will continue to supply product to the chain for the time being.
For Jiffy Lube, the sale follows a trend of seizing investment capital on franchise brands during 2020. They have often targeted restaurants red Lobster Representing one of the most high-profile cautionary tales of what can go wrong when private equity gets involved. Some of these groups have acquired franchiseVery; In this case, Monomoy is also acquiring Premium Velocity Auto, the second-largest Jiffy Lube franchise in the country, which operates 360 of those 2,000 locations.
According to an analystShops like Jiffy Lube have been drawing business away from dealer service departments in recent months due to comparatively low prices.
This sale has remained mostly under the radar until now, although the reaction of some aware people can be best summarized by a comment on the forum. one who reads“I’m having trouble imagining how private equity is going to cut even more into Jiffy Lube.” Like all franchises, some are better stewards of their brand and better at serving customers than others. Only time will tell how Jiffy Lube emerges from this chapter.
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