Dent Wizard Intl. and Manheim Auctions Form Joint Venture
8 October 1998
Dent Wizard International and Manheim Auctions Form Joint Venture
ST. LOUIS, Mo., Oct. 7 -- Dent Wizard International and
Manheim Auctions, Inc., announced today that they have completed a joint
venture. St. Louis based Dent Wizard International operates the nation's
largest network of company and franchise owned paintless dent removal
facilities. Details of the transaction were not disclosed.
Dent Wizard International is the market leader in the United States in the
emerging process of removing dents and dings from vehicles without the
necessity of traditional paint and body repair that is more expensive,
intrusive, and time consuming. Dent Wizard International operates as the only
national company in this fast growing segment of auto repair with more than
700 technicians nationwide. Dent Wizard is the process of choice for most of
the nation's automobile manufactures, leasing and rental companies and hail
related insurance repairs.
Kevin Beattie, president of Dent Wizard International, will continue to
operate the company with his existing management team from their St. Louis
headquarters. Dennis Berry, president of Manheim Auctions, said, "We are
excited about our involvement with Kevin and his team. They provide the
industry with the highest quality standards, flexibility, and service in the
rapidly growing area of paintless dent removal. We envision tremendous
synergy between Dent Wizard, Manheim and it's parent Cox Enterprises Inc., in
the insurance and retail market segments."
Kevin Beattie said, "The potential for growth into new markets is exciting
and capital intensive due mainly to the high cost of training expert
technicians. This joint venture with Manheim will allow us to stay firmly
committed to insuring the highest level of service to the nations car auctions
and our other customers while sustaining the explosive growth and acceptance
of the Dent Wizard process." Beattie went on to say, "The partnership will
first generate an improved level of service to Dent Wizard International's
current customer base through the infusion of resources, and secondly will
allow Dent Wizard International to seize new domestic and global market
opportunities more rapidly."
DENT WIZARD INTERNATIONAL
Dent Wizard International (http://www.dentwiz.com) pioneered the paintless
dent repair process and is the world leader in paintless dent removal with
operations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Germany, United Kingdom, and
Sweden. Founded in 1983 in Miami, Florida, Dent Wizard International
flourished into a network of franchise and company-owned operations with over
600 service centers and retail stores in over 200 cities. In 1997, Dent
Wizard International repaired over 1,000,000 vehicles and is on track to
repair in excess of 1,250,000 vehicles in 1998. Their customer base is
comprised of consumers, automobile manufacturers and dealerships, auctions,
insurance companies, rental car agencies, fleet management companies,
wholesalers, and body shops. At the dealership level, Dent Wizard
International completes repairs in the new and pre-owned car departments as
well as the dealership's service department. It also has fully supported
Service Drive Programs for insurance and retail business. Dent Wizard
International operates a worldwide Catastrophe Hail Team that works with
insurance companies, responding quickly to repair vehicles damaged by hail
storms.
MANHEIM AUCTIONS
Founded in 1945, Manheim Auctions, Inc., is the world's largest operator
of wholesale automobile auctions with more than 80 locations in North America
and the United Kingdom. In 1997, Manheim Auctions handled more than six
million vehicles and sold almost $28 billion worth of vehicles. Manheim leads
the electronic commerce industry with wholesale automotive sales of more than
$200 million since the launch of Manheim Online (http://www.manheim.com) in 1997. In
support of the core auction business, Manheim also provides vehicle
reconditioning and certification, automated vehicle pricing products, dealer
floor plan financing, dealer business software and government auction
services. Manheim is a partner with the Dealer Services Division of Automated
Data Processing, offering free Internet used car listings to dealers and
consumers via AutoConnect (http://www.autoconnect.com).
COX ENTERPRISES
Manheim is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises, Inc. In addition to Manheim,
Cox includes Cox Newspapers, Inc., Cox Broadcasting, Inc., and publicly traded
Cox Communications, Inc. and Cox Radio, Inc. Cox Enterprises also provides
online news, information and entertainment services via the Internet through
Cox Interactive Media.