The US based Genuine Parts Company and the Alliance Automotive Group have announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which the Genuine Parts Company will acquire Alliance Automotive Group from private equity funds managed by Blackstone and AAG's co-founders. The acquisition is valued at a total purchase price of approximately $2 billion including the repayment of AAG's outstanding debt upon closing. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2017, subject to regulatory approval.

AAG is the second largest parts distribution platform in Europe, with a focus on light vehicle and commercial vehicle replacement parts. Based in London, it has 7,500 employees and over 1,800 company-owned stores and affiliated outlets across Europe. The Alliance Automotive Group’s UK and Ireland interests include, Groupauto UK and Ireland, UAN and FPS.

Paul Donahue, Genuine Parts Company's President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "We are excited to combine with AAG and enter the European markets with critical scale and a leading market position in the automotive aftermarket. AAG is poised to contribute significant sales growth and earnings accretion to Genuine Parts Company and also serves to enhance the GPC platform for long-term, sustainable expansion across the global automotive parts industry. AAG has a strong management team and our similar cultures and histories make this acquisition an excellent strategic fit.”

Jean-Jacques Lafont, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Alliance Automotive Group, said, "The AAG team has tremendous respect for Genuine Parts Company and its well-deserved reputation as a long-standing leader in the automotive parts industry. We are very pleased to combine our two great businesses and leverage our collective resources and expertise to accelerate growth."

The Genuine Parts Company is a major distributor of automotive replacement parts in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Australasia.  The company had 2016 revenues of $15.3 billion.