Raleigh-headquartered Advance Auto Parts buys DieHard brand for $200 million
Advance Auto Parts, the only Fortune 500 company headquartered in Raleigh, announced Monday they’ve bought the DieHard car battery brand for $200 million from Transformco, the owner of the rapidly disappearing Sears and Kmart retail stores.
The transaction will allow Advance to sell DieHard batteries and related products. A supply agreement authorizes Transformco to keep developing and selling the automotive products in its Sears stores.
Advance Auto Parts president and CEO Tom Greco said in a press release the purchase will increase attention from their DIY customer base.
“DieHard has the highest brand awareness and regard of any automotive battery brand in North America and will enable Advance to build a leadership position within the critical battery category,” said Greco. He said the company will explore extending into “other battery categories” including marine and recreational vehicles.
The News & Observer previously reported that the company will move into an office tower in North Hills from Kane Realty that was renamed as the Advance Auto Parts Tower, set to open in late 2020.
Advance Auto Parts reported a 1.6 percent increase in net sales to $2.3 billion in the third quarter, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
Sears, formerly the world’s largest retailer, stands to benefit from the purchase since it has seen decreasing revenue and vanishing Sears and Kmart banner stores.
The two stores will have only 182 stores open by February after closing more than 3,000 locations and seeing sales decline from $43 billion in 2010 to $17 billion in 2017, according to Business Insider.
Before Transformco purchased Sears Holdings in February 2019 for $5.2 billion, Sears had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October last year.
This story was originally published December 23, 2019 at 2:56 PM.
