Copart UK Limited announced today that it has agreed to acquire D Hales
Limited, a Bristol-based vehicle salvage disposal company with five
auction and auto parts facilities located in Bristol (Avonmouth),
Bedford, Colchester, Gainsborough and Luton. Prior to this acquisition
Copart owned 13 auction and auto parts facilities in the UK and 147
facilities world-wide. The acquisition is expected to be complete on
Jan. 22, 2010.
Copart UK provides vehicle suppliers, primarily insurance companies,
with a full range of remarketing services to expose their product to
buyers in more than 94 countries. Copart UK manages vehicle remarketing
for businesses in the automotive and insurance sectors, handling
everything from motorcycles and cars to trucks and RVs. Once a vehicle
has been deemed a total loss, Copart UK collects it, transfers it to one
of their facilities and takes digital images of it for its online
auction. Copart UK may also take it to one of their self-service auto
parts facilities or crushing locations.
"The purchase of D Hales Limited demonstrates Copart’s continuing
investment within the UK,” said Copart UK Managing Director Nigel Paget.
"It enables us to expand our UK presence by building on our
international footprint and adding much needed capacity in response to
current and expected business growth in the UK. This acquisition also
adds to Copart’s efficiencies, reducing transportation costs and further
reducing our carbon footprint. I look forward to welcoming our new
colleagues to the Copart team on Jan. 22.”
About Copart:
Copart, Inc., headquartered in Fairfield, California, was founded in
1982 and includes 147 facilities in the United States, Canada and the
United Kingdom. Copart’s North American facilities store vehicles to be
sold in online vehicle auctions using its proprietary VB2 technology and
do not include crushing or self-service auto parts facilities.
Copart’s North American locations provide insurance companies as well as
other sellers a full range of remarketing services for both salvage and
clean-title vehicles. Salvage vehicles are either damaged vehicles
deemed a total loss for insurance or business.
Recently www.copart.com
was also enhanced to make it easier for non-licensed buyers to search
for and view vehicles available at its facilities in the United States
and Canada.
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS:
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of federal securities laws, including statements regarding our
expectations with respect to certain anticipated benefits to our
customers related to the acquisition of new facilities such as potential
decreases in cycle times and reductions in certain costs. These
forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks, trends and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from
those projected or implied by our statements and comments. For a more
complete discussion of the risks that could affect our business, please
review the "management's discussion and analysis” and the other risks
identified in Copart’s latest Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly
Reports on Form 10-Q, and Current Reports on Form 8-K, as filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. We encourage investors to review
these disclosures carefully. We do not undertake to update any
forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time on our
behalf.