Big news from the brake business: First Brands Group, formerly known as TRICO Group, has acquired Brake Parts Inc. (BPI) and Champion Laboratories Inc.
First Brands Group is based in Rochester Hills, Michigan, and was founded as TRICO in 1917. The company’s main main business are aftermarket windshield wiper products, including wiper refills and washer pumps. Recently, they have been expanding swiftly into other aftermarket part suppliers, branding itself as a “global automotive parts manufacturer”.
Brake Parts Inc. is based in McHenry, Illinois, and it was founded in 1988. The company makes brakes and brake parts for the aftermarket, for passenger cars and trucks. Their lineup ranges from brake pads to brake calipers to trailer brakes. Their best known brands are Raybestos and Vortex. Brake Parts Inc. is one of the largest aftermarket brake parts manufacturers in the world.
Champion Laboratories is based in Albion, Illinois, founded in 1936. The company produces automotive filters, both original equipment and aftermarket. Examples or their products are oil filters, cabin filters, and automatic transmission filters. Best known brands are Champ and Luber-Finer.
First Brand Groups has been on a buying spree for a while now. In 2019 they acquired Airtex Fuel Pumps and ASC Water Pumps from UCI, Fram (filters) and Autolite (spark plugs) from Rank Group, and the fuel pump business of Spectra Premium.
With valuations of many part makers down due to the Covid-19 crisis, there seems to be plenty of opportunity for further expansion into the aftermarket automotive parts business by First Brands Group.