The $12M Business Behind Global Car Shipping

Bill D'Alessandro (0:03)

Hello, another episode of Acquisitions Anonymous.

Michael Girdley (0:05)

We don't have 100% beers anymore.

Heather Endresen (0:07)

And thumbs downing on just the plus inventory alone.

Michael Girdley (0:12)

One of the biggest risks in entrepreneurship through acquisition is buying a business with fragile systems. Unclear demand are a single owner who holds all the knowledge. Franchising approaches that problem differently. You are buying into an established brand with documented systems, unit level data, and repeatable operating playbooks. The hard part is knowing which franchises are actually worth evaluating. That's why Alex Merezniak, former CEO of 2U Laundry built Franzy. Franzy is a free platform that helps acquisition-minded entrepreneurs explore franchise ownership without broker bias. You answer a few questions and Franzy shows you franchise opportunities that align with your capital, lifestyle, and long-term goals. You also get free coaching from people who have actually built and scaled franchise businesses. If you are exploring ETA and want to understand whether franchising fits your acquisition strategy, visit franzy.com, that's franzy.com, and thanks to them for sponsoring today's episode.

Bill D'Alessandro (1:00)

500 episodes later, we still start joking around, and people go, quick, hit record, hit record. We got to get this right there. I guess we're doing something right. It's still fun.

Mills Snell (1:10)

When we initially started, we were basically like, let's just hit record and figure it out.

Bill D'Alessandro (1:14)

And still 500 episodes later.

Mills, so it's Friday also, so this one always is a little bit goofy. Heather is 730 in the morning, so she's still getting caffeinated up, the rest of the three of us are halfway through our mornings, caffeinated and already looking at five o'clock. So this should be a good one. What did you find for us today, Mills?

Mills Snell (1:37)

This jumped out at me because of the photo. If you're not on YouTube, I highly recommend it. It's a semi truck with a container, like a Connex container on the back, and there's vehicles loaded into the back of it. Like it looks like it's some kind of specialty rig, so to speak, inside this Connex to transport vehicles. And it says it's a B2B auto transport and equipment rental company with 11 global patents based in Tampa, Florida. And elsewhere, it said that the business is 35 years old. So, I don't know, it just like, businesses like this that are kind of like maybe asset light really are intriguing to me, may or may not be asset light. I haven't read the whole listing yet. So, this is on Biz by Cell, one of our future aspiring sponsors. And the asking price on this business is $12 million. They say cash flow, which they list as SDE, Seller Discretionary Earnings, is $3.4 million.

And the revenue is a whopping 4.1 million. So, this business has like 75% SDE margins. Net margins, wow. Supposedly, supposedly.

It's been around since 1991 And it says, it's a 35-year-old business with 95% gross margins and three global office locations. Website Closers presents a 35-year B2B automotive transportation and equipment rental company that has built a patented alternative to traditional vehicle shipping. The business designs, owns and leases reusable steel cassette systems used to move finished vehicles, semi-knocked down vehicle kits and motorcycles inside standard 40-foot containers. Their system allows vehicles to be secured outside the container, loaded by forklift and placed inside in under three minutes, removing the need for internal lashing while reducing loading time and cargo damage. Supported by 11 active patents across key international markets, the company has helped transport more than 2.5 million vehicles across over 30 countries. A major OEM program recorded a damage rate of just 0.025% across 118,000 vehicles, compared to a 5.2% industry benchmark. The product line uses three standardized base frames that carry two, three or four vehicles with modular parts that can be adjusted for different vehicle models. Units also collapse and stack to reduce return shipping costs. 35 years old, 11 patents, 95% gross margin, three offices, high capacity facilities, 365 days of transition support, so they're going to help you for a year afterwards, and a fully paid equipment fleet. It says they earn through multi-year equipment lease contracts with automotive manufacturers, ocean carriers and 3PL providers. Enterprise accounts typically carry annual contract values from 500,000 to more than 4 million. New equipment is generally built only after a two to three year lease has been secured and fabrication costs are structured to be recovered within the first 24 months. Most contracts remain active for four to seven years while one customer relationship continued for more than 11 years. Risk margins have exceeded 95%.

A major part of this opportunity is a pool of 6,501 fully paid cassettes in like new condition and ready for new contracts. Those assets were originally built for 6.3 million dollars and now carry no remaining equipment debt. Management believes redeploying the fleet could generate more than 3 million dollars per year with five commercial opportunities already under discussion. Manufacturing partners in two regions can also handle multi-thousand unit orders, giving the company room to respond as new lease programs are signed.