Les Schwab Tire suspends plans to sell company, citing coronavirus - OregonLive
Les Schwab Tire Centers has suspended efforts to sell the Bend company, saying that its suitors cannot easily evaluate the business’ value during the coronavirus pandemic.
“It just isn’t practical to invite prospective buyers to visit our facilities and meet employees when travel is so restricted,” the Bend-based company said in a written statement Tuesday. “On top of that, we find ourselves in an unprecedented time with coronavirus affecting almost every aspect of our lives and work.”
Schwab Tire announced plans to sell the 68-year-old business in December, shaking up an Oregon institution. Bloomberg News reported that the family-owned company sought at least $3 billion from the sale.
“We continue to believe that new ownership for Les Schwab Tires is the best way to support growth and innovation, and all the opportunities those create for our employees and communities,” the company said in Tuesday’s statement.
Tire Business, an industry news site, first reported the company’s decision to pause the sale process in an article published Monday.
Company founder Les Schwab, his wife and both his children have all died. The business is now owned by his grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren, none of whom have an active role running the company.
The decision to sell one of Oregon’s biggest and best-known businesses came as a shock to employees and customers.
The company’s headquarters are in Bend and it serves nearly 500 stores through a single distribution facility in Prineville – the small, relatively remote town where Les Schwab started the business in 1952.
Schwab Tire said annual sales last year were approximately $1.8 billion.
In Monday’s article in Tire Business, chief marketing officer Dale Thompson said Schwab Tire might break up the company as part of a sale. Thompson told The Oregonian/OregonLive on Tuesday that he unintentionally gave the impression in the earlier article and that the company will be sold intact.
“It’s important to be clear Les Schwab has no intention of selling the company’s operations in pieces,” Thompson said in an email. “Our strength is in our brand, and our brand represents the whole of everything we do.”
The coronavirus pandemic has profoundly reduced auto traffic throughout the country, with fewer people traveling for vacation and work. Auto travel in Oregon was down more than 40% in the early days of the pandemic and remains down about 20% compared to this time last year.
"We certainly saw a drop in sales and gradual recovery (in the first half of the year)," Thompson told Tire Dealer. "We've had a little stronger recovery lately. It's been a cycle, and people seem eager to get out and drive again."
This article has been substantially updated with additional information from the company.
-- Mike Rogoway | mrogoway@oregonian.com | twitter: @rogoway | 503-294-7699
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2020-06-30 20:29:00Z
https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2020/06/les-schwab-tire-suspends-plans-to-sell-company-citing-coronavirus.html
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