Kwik-Fit to Stay in Scotland

Kwik-Fit will remain in its Edinburgh headquarters despite the fact that it has been bought by European equity firm, PAI partners. Paris-based PAI Partners confirmed to The Times that Kwik-Fit’s management team and the headquarters in Broxburn, West Lothian, would remain in place.

London-based PAI partner Hamish Mackenzie, who negotiated the deal, said: “The business remains as it is. You wouldn’t think, with my name and my accent, it would be moving out of Scotland, now would you?” the newspaper reported.

PAI bought the group, Europe’s largest car parts supplier, through Speedy 1 Ltd, a company set up for the deal. A spokesman for CVC said that the Kwik-Fit story was a “classic turnround”.

The deal also includes the Glasgow-based Kwik-Fit Financial Services, which earlier this month announced record profits of £2.6 million on a turnover of £42 million.

The sale represented a huge success for former owners CVC Capital Partners, which bought the chain for £330 million before selling it for £800 million. Kwik-Fit founder, Sir Tom Farmer, sold the chain to Ford in 1999 for £1 billion.