Tyre and car servicing group Atlas Autoservice has today announced a deal to buy Bridgestone's 18 Irish retail depots for an undisclosed sum in a major expansion for the company.
The 18 Bridgestone depots, which operate under the "First Stop" and "Fast Fit" brands, will join Atlas Autoservice's existing nine outlets to create the largest chain of tyre and car servicing outlets in Dublin.
The 18 First Stop and Fast Fit depots located in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Drogheda, Waterford and Wexford will continue to operate under their existing brand names at this time.
Atlas, owned by the McKillen family, said today's deal will more than double the number of employees at the group.
It will also significantly strengthen the company's position in the automotive aftermarket in the Dublin area while also adding regional depots to the group for the first time.
Chloe McKillen, Managing Director at Atlas Autoservice, said today's deal facilitates the company's ambition to become the number one choice for Irish motorists across the country.
"This expansion will more than double the size of our family business and enable our growing team to provide the highest quality of service to new and existing customers in Dublin and other cities and towns across Ireland," she added.
She said the chain of depots as part of the deal includes several original DC Exhaust sites.
"This was a business founded by my grandfather in the 1970s, so there is a deep sense of pride in bringing this business back under family ownership and into the Atlas Group," she added.
Atlas Autoservice is owned by John McKillen, the son of developer Paddy McKillen Snr.
Paddy McKillen originally owned the D.C. Exhausts chain and it is understood that a number of the outlets included in this sale were once part of that chain.
