National auto body parts chain acquires Republic distributor

A nearly $400 million-a-year auto parts company, Keystone Automotive Industries Inc., acquired Advance Bumper and Body Parts in Republic last week, eliminating a 3-year-old rivalry.

The publicly traded Keystone Auto-motive, which already has local operations in Ozark at 1449 W. Skyline Ave., purchased assets, inventory and human resources from Advance Bumper and Body Parts owners Jeff and Marie Sowder for an undisclosed amount Jan. 6.

The two companies were competitors in the local aftermarket collision body parts distribution industry. Each serviced about 300 body shop clients in southern Missouri and northern Arkansas.

Keystone, which has its headquarters in Pomona, Calif., is growing its local market share via the Ozark office that opened three years ago, according to its local general manager, Wayne Angus.

"(Keystone) came into an area that we had a stronghold in and they would like to further their opportunities," Jeff Sowder said.

Sowder said he bit on the deal once the offer became lucrative enough. Sowder's business, which his father Calvin Sowder started in 1978, will continue, but will shift from retail to wholesale sales.

"We are evolving our business into a wholesale (original equipment manufacturer) parts business," Sowder said. "We will be distributing OEM parts to after-market distributors, as opposed to going direct to the body shops."

Sowder said it is a strong possibility that his company will become a wholesale supplier to Keystone. The company will undergo a name change, but Sowder hasn't filed for the new one yet.

Eight employees are transferring as a result of the sale, including six sales associates. Angus said the deal doubles Keystone's local client base and sales volume. He expects to do $3 million in sales this year.

"Advance had been in the market 25 years, and we both had some shared customers," Angus said. "It essentially marries up a mom-and-pop deal with a national company."

It is Keystone's sixth acquisition in the last year, according to company press releases. Keystone has 114 distribution facilities in 37 states, Canada and Mexico, selling to more than 25,000 body shops.

Keystone registered $382 million in sales last year and is on pace to exceed $400 million this fiscal year, Angus said. Keystone is publicly traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol KEYS.

Keystone has been in other headlines recently, cited in a December 2002 lawsuit brought by General Motors Corporation.

The suit, filed in the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division, alleges that "Keystone is distributing replacement grilles for General Motors' vehicles with a placeholder matched exactly to the Chevrolet Bow Tie design emblem and the GMC mark emblem, which infringes on General Motors' federal, state and common law trademarks," according to a Keystone press release.

Company officials said they have not been able to thoroughly evaluate the case, but Keystone intends to defend its business practices.