Private Equity’s Playbook for Collision Repair with Giorgio Andonian
By Published On: December 5, 2025

Private Equity’s Playbook for Collision Repair with Giorgio Andonian

On this week’s episode, Cole Strandberg chats with his FOCUS Investment Banking partner, Giorgio Andonian, Managing Director and a go-to advisor for owners navigating growth and liquidity. They talk about what’s real in M&A right now, how private equity is showing up as a growth partner, a quick preview of private debt as a tool they’ll cover in depth, and a few fresh takeaways from SEMA—plus the trends and questions they’re hearing most from operators in the market today. If you’re weighing scale, recapitalization, or a future exit, this one’s for you.

Cole Strandberg: We, we talk a lot, so for our audience’s sake, we just switched over from teams onto the actual recording of the Collision Vision. So Giorgio and I spend a lot of time together each and every day. Going to be fun to kind of dive in here on 2025 in review, talk about some of the latest and greatest trends in cap raises in mergers and acquisitions across the collision repair landscape and the automotive aftermarket as a whole. Giorgio, I think a lot of the folks listening here will remember you from your previous appearance on the Collision Vision. But in case they don’t, or in case they happen to miss that episode, give us your background in your own words for us.

Giorgio Andonian: Yeah, appreciate that. Cole. Similar to yourself, I come from the automotive background, family business. I come actually from the automotive repair side, although I did have some exposure to collision just as an adjacent category did a lot of M and A within the family business. Branched out, kind of started our own thing, eventually sold it over to a private equity group. Let my dad retire, decided to jump into the crazy world of deal making here at Focus. Six years in, heading into my seventh Focus, mostly, no pun intended, on the automotive aftermarket from collision, auto repair, parts distribution, etc, spending a lot of time obviously with you here in Collision and having some fun with it.

Cole Strandberg: So no doubt, man, we’re getting off of a very busy SEMA which we’ll dive into in a little bit. Super productive, non stop. And I think the takeaways there that we’ll we’ll hit on a little bit more later in our conversation. We’re super positive, super energetic. A lot of momentum here as an industry heading into 2026. Before we dive in, I want to hit you with kind of an overarching theme or a question, I guess you’ve been doing this for a while. You’ve obviously been in the automotive industry your entire life. Like I have. What’s your favorite part about what we do?

Giorgio Andonian: Honestly, I’d say my favorite part is the end when the business owner gets to breathe because it’s a sprint. Right. And going through that diligence, going through negotiations and it’s not just a 30 day kind of process, it’s a six month process or so. And seeing that relief and getting the call cup maybe a month or so after, that’s truly my favorite part.

Cole Strandberg: I’m with you right on the back of decades, in a lot of cases of hard work, in one day, in one moment, that generational wealth is realized and all that hard work has paid off. It’s a really cool, rewarding part of what we do. And I, I like to paint a picture too for folks whether it’s a sales side transaction, whether it’s a partial buyout, whether it’s a cap raise, there’s nothing more fun than that closing dinner where relaxation can finally occur. It’s a lot of fun around a table with the guys you were in the trenches with for many, many months. Super cool. Oh yeah. All right. Now we’re going to zoom out a little bit. Let’s start pretty broad. What are you seeing in the M and A world right now, specifically in the automotive aftermarket and collision repair. And I’m going to jump in here as well. But started here.

Giorgio Andonian: Well, as you know, the interest level is incredibly high still. I think the consolidation continues to happen. Let’s if we’re going to close in on collision. You’Re starting to. You still see what over 150 or so private equity groups trying to get into the space consolidators obviously continue to do what they’re doing. The Joe Hudson deal obviously is going to put a not a wrench in this but more of I guess digestion time to see what that’s going to do to the market. But from a high level, you’re getting more new entrants, you’re getting family offices, private equity. The smaller groups are trying to grow and compete against the national groups. A lot of excitement, a lot of activity. I don’t expect that to slow down. At least going into 2026. Based on what we’ve been seeing out.

Cole Strandberg: At SEMA, the Joe Hudson sale to the Boyd Group and Gerber was probably our most frequent conversation. Correct. And yeah, a lot of moving parts. Going to be interesting to see how the dust settles there. I think overarchingly it’s going to be a good thing for the industry from a valuation perspective, from a maturity perspective, but in the interim going to be interesting to see how it affects the micro and you know, Q4, Q1, Q2 into 2026 should be fascinating to see. But overall I think it’s a positive, positive for everybody out there. Let’s see what else was really top of mind here. I think you mentioned the private equity interest. I’ve mentioned on this show multiple Times that in 2024 I spoke with over 100 private equity groups. Fortunately for the industry, unfortunately for my calendar, I think we’re going to exceed that here this year. So the interest level remains really, really strong. There’s a supply and demand issue continuing where there are more private equity groups looking to get into the industry than there are kind of platform level assets. So we can continue to see folks getting creative with that operating partner backed model where they find their CEO before they find a single deal, allowing them to have some infrastructure in place and be able to piece together some smaller acquisitions overall, again, going back to the Gerber Joe Hudson piece, going to be interesting to see what that does to their M A efforts.

Giorgio Andonian: Right.

Cole Strandberg: You know, obviously a lot of our big boys for 23 and 24 were much less present in the M a game in 2025 and we’ll see if that changes going into 2026. Gerber deals kind of increased in 25, at least in, in prevalence, in, in recognition compared to some of the others. But we’ll see, man, it’s, it’s a fascinating time for our industry and I think we’ve seen a pivot in 25 to in all likelihood a buyer’s market for single store smaller opportunities. Whereas the bigger opportunities, the regional MSOs, remain very much a seller’s market. And so it’ll be interesting to see if one of them drags the other up or down in 2026. But for now, that’s really, really the landscape. What have you seen difference in 24 to 25 in terms of deals getting done in timelines and, and the ups and downs that every process faces?

Giorgio Andonian: I think you nailed it with the last piece is the timeline, man. This, these deals used to be a walk in the park as far as process and everybody just knew to be on their A game. We’ll get this done in six, three to six months. It’s pretty simple. Now you’re seeing this thing drag out to six months, nine months and in some cases it could be even longer. A lot of it has come down to diligence. I, from what I’m seeing, they’re just doing a lot more diving into the business, the operations, the financials. You’ll always get a level of that during the process. But as we go kind of deeper into valuation questions, they’re trying to flip over every leaf, every stone, understand every single aspect of it. Probably because a lot of people got burned back in the past. So you’re seeing the timeline drag out. A lot more caution and frankly a lot more deal structure as we call it. Less cash upfront, maybe some seller equity, seller notes, earnouts for based on performance. Just a lot more pieces to put to the puzzle essentially. And that can slow the process down as well. If you’re negotiating earnouts or you’re negotiating seller notes and terms, those are going to slow the process down. And that’s really the biggest thing for me is just so much more scrutiny in the industry right now to the.

Cole Strandberg: Point where I think agility is becoming a differentiator. The ability to be kind of flexible and fast moving and adjustable. And it’s where we see groups like these regional consolidators growing like crazy, sometimes on the radar, sometimes under the radar. Obviously GNC out in California is a frequent guest here on this show. We’ve had vive on the show, we’ve had Quality Collision group on the show. These guys all bring a unique approach to the types of shops they acquire and then how they operate them after the fact. But oftentimes these regional groups are able to move a little quicker and be a little bit more flexible than some of the big national Titanics. And I’d be remiss not to bring up and ask you some questions here about the deal we just recently closed with Quality Collision Group First Class Auto down here in Pompano. Talk to me about the interest levels of shops who have pursued the OE certification route and gone the specialized route.

Giorgio Andonian: Well, I mean just from this example you could see there was some desire. Just the margin profile in something like this is significantly better in this case. You know, DRP was really not a huge part of the business and adds a whole different strategy for the buyers and even the sellers. And the excitement level in this case from classic was calling.

Cole Strandberg: Sorry, you’re good qcg. Absolutely. Their first presence in the state of Florida. Really excited to see how they go from here and very pleased for our sellers, Kevin and Kirino. Fantastic people.

Giorgio Andonian: Yeah. And, and really just I think the margin profile is what is most interesting. When you’re dealing with these dealerships and always certifications, it’s a lot different, incredibly profitable operations in those who like that type of strategy. Less selling. The DRP were really excited about that opportunity when it was a market.

Cole Strandberg: Yeah. You know, I think for many years people viewed these specialized, excuse me, specialized shops as the buyer pool might be limited to an extent that’s true, but the goal of any process is to find the right buyer or buyers who want it more than anyone else. And in the case of these specialized uniquely high quality shops, the right buyer tends to materialize or buyers. And I think that’s, that’s a thesis, that Highline, OE certified thesis is one that I’ve been preaching for a number of years. We’re seeing a multitude of buyers coming in, obviously led at least by store count, by quality collision group, and excited to see how that continues. There are more and more groups again on the radar and under the radar that are really getting in on the specialization. Not all of them are Highline or OE specific. Some of them are fleet or truck specific. And we’re seeing a lot of interest certainly in the truck space. Can you talk to why that might be?

Giorgio Andonian: Well, they’re essential. Right. You can’t have these trucks off the road, so they need to be in there, fixed correctly, fixed quickly and back on the road. It’s just an integral part of our economy. And having these trucks being repaired offers an opportunity for again, margin, high profit, but a consistent flow of business as well. And it’s a completely different market than the retail side of it. And I do agree entirely that that industry seems to be the next kind of hot niche within the collision repair world. Excited to see what’s going to happen there. I really think that we’re going to start seeing some more waves in there coming up.

Cole Strandberg: Could not agree more. I think there’s a ton of opportunity and as you look at the more traditional DRP landscape and I go back to the valuation conversation, a lot of the low hanging fruit has been picked and I think that adds to the complexity and the level of diligence and the level of pickiness that these large national players are now bringing to their consolidation approach. Let’s talk notable trends from evaluation perspective, Giorgio, and I’ll kind of take a stab at what I’m seeing first and then I’ll let you come and interject as well. I want to quantify to an extent nothing’s one size fits all but that buyer versus seller market. In, in very plain English, we are seeing valuations driven by demand trends for smaller single store operations decreasing.

Giorgio Andonian: Correct.

Cole Strandberg: We’ve been seeing that really for the bulk of 2025 and that, that that trend is continuing. We’re seeing MSO opportunities pretty flat. It’s off a little bit from the peak of 23 and 24, but it’s still very attractive. It’s still gathering in generalities a lot of interest and a lot of competition among a pretty large pool of buyers. And again, I come back to the disclosed terms around Gerber’s acquisition of Joe Hudson. That was a pretty darn compelling multiple. And I think a lot of these regional consolidators are looking toward that. And to see, hey, when the dust settles, are we going back toward the 2023 and 2024 multiples or is this 2025 ceiling kind of the new normal? I’ll kick it over to you for any thoughts or color you’d like to add there.

Giorgio Andonian: I mean, you and I have worked on potential opportunities, whether they’re MSOs or even come across a lot of the single shops. We definitely see the, the margin or the valuation compression on the single shops. And I think between valuation going low and truly just activity and interest level is very different. As soon as you get to say three shops that you’re an mso, you’re starting to get, you know, potentially double digit offers, you know, 10, 11 different opportunities to choose from. And so I think that definitely hits it right on the head valuation strong, but not the highs that we’re used to where you’re getting, you know, 120% of revenue or anything like that, we’re back down to probably reasonable somewhere between what, 70 to 100%, maybe 80 to 100% of revenue. If we’re talking about a consolidator, when it’s financial buyers, private equity, EBITDA margin and EBITDA is really going to be the driver behind it. And that will vary. I’ll tell you just from our experience, a couple of the deals, each buyer is going to look at it in a different way. So those will range a little bit more than the typical consolidators.

Cole Strandberg: Great segue. I want to talk private equity. Excuse me. This SEMA cold is sticking with me everybody, so please excuse any little clearings of throat or coughs. Obviously this series is about sourcing growth capital. And that lends itself more toward a conversation around private equity than a strategic buyer. Or what makes a business attractive to private equity. How can a business get on their radar, starting as a platform?

Giorgio Andonian: As a platform number, the first and foremost size. Right. How many rooftops do you have? How many shops and revenue, how large is it? What is your maximum revenue per location and your EBITDA profitability. But also from there, what’s the scalability? How professional are you? Do you have a management team in place? Or is the business running solely based on the operator? And that’s going to be a big driver as well. We’ve seen some opportunities where private equity will probably pass because they are concerned with the way that a transition of ownership would happen just because of the key man risk in there with the owner being so heavily involved. But really they want to look at scalability, profitability, rooftops and management team. I think those are the big key components to the private equity lens of an acquisition.

Cole Strandberg: Well put. And you know what? Private equity’s interest level remains in 2023 and 2024 levels. So as valuations have dipped off of those, private equity is really able to be more competitive during that time. For great regional MSOs, they talked a big game, but they were not able to be quite as competitive from a pricing standpoint as the big strategics. And the reason there is the strategics are going to remove any costs associated with corporate overhead, whereas private equity, that’s. That’s to your point. That management team, that leadership team, that infrastructure is a main, main point. So even if their multiple might have been penciled out as being higher than a strategic, what they were multiplying. That adjusted EBITDA was, was substantially lower. So now I see the, the valuation gaps decreasing, is shrinking.

Giorgio Andonian: Yep.

Cole Strandberg: And we’re going to see in 2026, I think, a lot more private equity transactions for really nice businesses than we have in years prior. So I think if I’m private equity and I’ve been waiting for my chance to get into collision repair, 2026 very well could be, could be the year for that now.

Giorgio Andonian: And can I interject for one second, just as we talk about financial buyers, it’d be important to note that family office seems to be the next piece here that is alongside private equity, but a little bit of a different twist. Maybe we should touch on that. If you think it’s appropriate.

Cole Strandberg: Please do. Yeah. There’s so many different flavors of private equity and Family office is a big one. And then even among traditional Private equity. There’s fundless sponsors, there’s private equity funds with the traditional three to seven year hold period. There’s funds who use primarily equity instead of debt. There’s so many different flavors. There’s growth equity who like minority investments. But I do think spending some time on the family office piece and sharing exactly what that is definitely makes some sense as well.

Giorgio Andonian: Yeah. Family office high level is a very wealthy family or individual who has decided to do investing in a professional manner. They have the appropriate team to do M and A. They bring in all the right operators. Generally, though still like to partner with the business owner. They’d like some rollover equity similar to private equity. The big difference here is they don’t have a specific hold period as we’ve, you know, we’ll probably touch on it too. But private equity likes to hold for a certain period of time and then they’ll flip it over to the next iteration. In many cases, the family office, they don’t have a predetermined hold period. They could hold it on for the rest of their entire lives and it could go from generation to generation. Some will decide to sell, some will decide to keep it. With private equity, you know that they’re probably at some point going to flip the opportunity to another buyer. And I think that’s really the big key. There is some more flexibility, obviously when it’s an individual buyer versus a full kind of private equity investment committee and LPs, but which I do like. Just from our perspective as, as the representatives of the sellers, you get some more flexibility and they’ll be able to bend a little bit more than the strict rules around private equity.

Cole Strandberg: Yeah, Often it’s one decision maker. Right. If they have high conviction, deals can happen. But you know, it’s interesting you’ve mentioned, I think I mentioned it here a couple times throughout this conversation as well. The right operator, the right management team for private equity. As we’ve seen and I, I get tempted to use kind of age as a descriptor and talk about younger founders and younger CEOs. That’s not fair at all. I apologize if I’ve done that before. But the reality is the right private equity CEO, the right private equity seller who looks to grow with them, has a few things that a few boxes to check. Number one, I think is Runway. Regardless of age, Runway. We’re not looking to go and put our feet up on a beach for the next five years, six years, seven years. That’s our Runway. If we’re going to look to partner with private equity as a platform and be that CEO. We’re going to look to be somewhat flexible. Right. You’re still in the driver’s seat, but maybe for the first time in your career, you’re held accountable by investors and a board of directors. And so you want that entrepreneurial mindset, but you also want to be somewhat workable, assuming you find the right partner, which I’ve hit on that a ton here in. In previous conversations on the collision vision, but especially when it’s private equity. Mergers and acquisitions is dating. You got to make sure upon a transaction you’re getting married that you like the group that you’re marrying and look forward to being in the trenches with them. And to do that, oftentimes you need to meet multiple groups to understand what you like and what you think and get ideas. Yeah, absolutely. So assuming you find that right fit, you got to have the Runway and the appetite to grow, grow, grow likely and hopefully quicker and faster and bigger than you’ve ever grown before, right?

Giorgio Andonian: Yeah, 100%. I think you nailed it right there. I was trying to think of something, just slipped my mind. Hopefully it’ll come back to me.

Cole Strandberg: You’re good, man. Well, it’s all good. It. You and I have both worked in a personal capacity with private equity with our family’s businesses. We obviously do in our day job as well. But from a working with private equity standpoint, the deal transacts. You’re now alongside of a private equity partner. What are some misconceptions that we see out there working with private equity?

Giorgio Andonian: And thank you for that because you reminded me what I was going to talk about.

Cole Strandberg: There we go.

Giorgio Andonian: Really? I think one of the misconceptions is I’ve never had a boss, and I don’t know what that’s going to be like. And it’s not necessarily having a boss. The intent is that you’re still going to be the CEO, you’re still going to run the show. You just have to be accountable.

Cole Strandberg: Right.

Giorgio Andonian: And that includes having a board and reporting to the board and making sure that that vision that we sold during the process is actually coming to fruition. And I think that’s one of the big items. It is a little bit more responsibility. And it’s not a boss per se. It’s more of a collaborative, hey, how are we going to get this thing to the next level and being held accountable for that? I think that’s number one. Number two, it’s important to find that, to do that dating that you mentioned. Right. Because they need you need to make sure that you guys are aligned on that execution, that plan. And a lot of these times you’ll hear terrible stories about these private equity groups that will just slash everybody and change the culture and do all that. Listen, does that happen? Yes. But I would argue that happens more in the bulge side. The larger entities where we’re playing, we’re talking about small groups, lower middle market family and founder focused groups that understand that you have built something and you can’t just change the culture overnight. And I think that is probably the biggest misconception. Misconception from my perspective is these groups are a little bit different. And because they’re running smaller, they are, they are investing in you, not just your business. And so having an understanding of that and making sure you guys are aligned on that same kind of goal within the next few years is a big part of that.

Cole Strandberg: And to break it down for a platform level investment, I think because of the level of interest in the space that that EBITDA requirement has moved down a bit. If you’re in the 2 million of EBITDA range, multiple locations, professionalized management team in place, we’re starting to be on the radar for private equity groups. That’s a very compelling thing if you’re not ready to go and be on the golf course or the beach all the time. Private equity and the right partnership is amazing from a growth perspective and an opportunity perspective. And from taking that equation that I constantly reference, owning 100% of the grape versus 30 or 40% of the watermelon. If watermelon sounds good to you and growth sounds fun and making a mark and leaving a big time legacy on the industry, private equity might be the right fit for you.

Giorgio Andonian: And on that note, it also depends on what you’re looking for.

Cole Strandberg: Right.

Giorgio Andonian: We’ve had clients who say, I am done with the everyday grind. I want to deal with HR accounts payable ever again. I want to focus on, you know, sourcing or vendor relations. And there’s a place for you in that organization as well. As long as there’s a transition period and you have the right management team in place. We’ve had deals where a client says, I never want to talk to an, you know, accounting ever again. And we can position it in the proper way to make sure that that happens. You want to be in a certain category within the organization, you have that opportunity as well. And I think That’s a unique Dr. With private equity.

Cole Strandberg: Really strong regional MSOs that, that check. Some of those private equity boxes are still in the driver’s seat. And so if you as the leader, as the primary owner, have what you desire your life to look like moving forward, you can put that out there, you can say that. And will it turn some groups off? Potentially. But the right fit is likely out there and you want to be upfront about your motivations and what you’re looking for to make sure that you do end up marry the right partner and to make sure that relationship continues to be healthy moving forward. I want to talk to we’re going to have an episode here later on this series exclusively dedicated to private debt and capital raising. Let’s talk a little bit about exactly what that is to get rocket and rolling because I know that’s something we’ve talked a fair bit about with different groups here in 2025 and I expect to be a big factor in our industry and beyond in 2026.

Giorgio Andonian: No question. Private debt. Think of it this way. You have a plan in place. Your regional or local bank has maxed out on the amount of revolver line of credit that they’re giving you when you go out to the market. It’s essentially a private equity type investor, but is only providing debt. It’s a very different story than when you’re trying to do an equity deal. They just want to make sure you can repay the debt. It’s usually for a project, right? Are you looking to buy another mso? Are you looking to build a brand new facility that’s going to cost you five, $10 million or whatever that major project is? That’s what that private debt is for. And you’re going to be able to go out to the market, find different investors that are purely debt investors. Maybe alongside down the process you could get some equity, but that’s really the precipice behind it. You’ll be able to get some money, pay it back obviously, maybe turn that into equity down in the, down the line in the future, but also put your, your action plan in place, essentially.

Cole Strandberg: Yeah, really, really well put. So for decades, private equity obviously buys businesses using a combination of debt and equity. For decades, that debt came from the same sources that your business, if it has debt, probably gets commercial banks, things of that nature today. And really in the last five years or so, where private equity gets their debt has shifted away from those banks and into the private debt world of hedge funds, pension funds, real estate funds, things of this nature where these guys are looking for, you know, typically pretty competitive interest rates. They have to make their money. But it’s also pretty flexible, both from an approval perspective and from a drawdown perspective and from a payback perspective. Oftentimes you’re going to have things like interest only and things like that for a number of years though I will throw the caveat in there. Each deal is different. You mentioned too how the story differs and I want to rewind there because in selling your business to a strategic, in selling a majority or a part of your business to private equity, or in going and getting private debt, the story is really more heavily weighted on different things and with different twists depending on that desired outcome. For I want to take your story.

Giorgio Andonian: I want to take a line straight out of the Cole Strandberg pitch. When it’s a private equity equity deal, it’s three items right where where you were, where you are and where you’re going. With private debt, it’s can you pay this back? Yep. It’s a very different story.

Cole Strandberg: It’s much more conservative in telling that story. It’s, you know, you don’t want to hear if you’re a, a 20 million dollar business today that we have a path toward being a billion. No, you want to hear how we are steady and strong and healthy and this debt is only going to help us be stronger and healthier. Whereas private equity would love to hear those future pie in the sky, really aggressive growth plan. So you sort of in the private debt storytelling, you’re handcuffed a little bit to make sure you stay focused on we’re healthy, we’re good, we’re steady, not so much. We’re going to be the next Apple. Really, really interesting. Really looking forward to that conversation here in the next couple of weeks. Appreciate the little teaser there with you here my friend. Before we part ways, I definitely want to talk about our SEMA experience. It was an absolute whirlwind. It was an absolute blast. It was meetings non stop, it was dinners, it was industry events, it was, I think I consumed more coffee in those in those four days than I’ve ever consumed in my life. Talk to me about your cmakes experience and what stood out to you.

Giorgio Andonian: SEMA was great. This year was better than last and last year was pretty active. I’d say we had the most conversations about the industry this year where it’s headed, especially collision. A lot of excitement about 2026. You know, we’ve had some ups and downs in 25 I think starting to rebound a little bit and just the optimism behind it. Lots of M and a discussions about MSOs, the, you know, the Joe Hudson deal, who’s still going to be doing acquisitions next year. But a lot of these operators still remain pretty excited about their business. And even the private equity guys and the consolidators, they still see the vision and they’re excited about what’s coming. Just from a personal perspective, I had a blast with you guys. Great time. A lot of coffee, a lot of cold brews, a lot of humidifiers. But I do feel pretty excited about auto aftermarket continuing into 26. And honestly, beyond just the activity level in automotive, if we’re going to kind of zoom out a little beyond collision, just the aftermarket itself continues to have a lot of excitement, a lot of conversations, a lot of activity. So looking forward to how we can help.

Cole Strandberg: You know what? Pre sema, I was getting these rumblings of optimism from the industry about a great 2026. And I’m an optimistic person by nature, but I like to have some data to back that. I was having a hard time tracking down that data. Not to say I was pessimistic, but it was like, all right, why are people feeling that way? And following sema, I have a better handle on that. The positivity just radiated from most every meeting. Excuse me. We had. And the, the conversations and plans for a lot of these regional and growing groups get me very excited for 2026. I, I, there are some really aggressive plans. I think we’re going to see transaction volume in all likelihood begin to pick up at least in the first half of 2026. I don’t know that that’s a permanent shift, but I know in the near term, just based on conversations, that’s what I expect, which should get everyone in this industry really, really hopeful and excited for the future.

Giorgio Andonian: Yeah, I think it’s good for the industry to have high valuations. A lot of activity gives people options. You don’t have to sell, but you can have the option too. And that’s nice to have.

Cole Strandberg: That’s it. It’s all about staying educated and, and staying insightful where thoughtful about what you want your future in your life to be. That’s what it’s all about. And at any given point in time, when you decide it’s time for a change, to be educated on what’s going on out there is a great thing. And I hope our conversation today did that for our listeners. A nice finger on the pulse of what’s going on in consolidation in the mergers and acquisition space around the collision repair and automotive aftermarket. Always a fun time connecting with you. Giorgio. For folks who want to get in touch with you or learn more about our team. Where can they do that?

Giorgio Andonian: Well, you can definitely find us on LinkedIn and on our Focus website, focusbankers.com you’ll go to the automotive team. You’ll see yourself, myself and the rest of the auto team on their email is down there. Giorgio.endonianocusbankers.com you have my mobile on there as well. That’s probably the best way to do it.

Cole Strandberg: Couldn’t have said it better myself, man. Really appreciate you taking some time to spend with us here on the Collision Vision and I’ll catch up with you on teams probably here in a little bit once we get wrapped up here. But Giorgio, appreciate you. All right, thank you so much.

Cole Strandberg, a FOCUS Managing Director, joins the FOCUS team following nearly a decade of banking and operational experience in the automotive, transportation, and distribution industries. Prior to joining FOCUS in 2022, Mr. Strandberg was director of business development for Autotality (formerly Filterworks USA), the leading provider of facility design, equipment, and service solutions for the automotive repair industry. During his time with Autotality, the company partnered with a private equity firm and subsequently made six add-on acquisitions, eventually quadrupling in size. Mr. Strandberg was responsible for the company’s growth efforts, including key account management, strategic sales & marketing, and various operational management functions. Before Autotality, Mr. Strandberg was an associate on the equity capital markets team at Noble Capital Markets, a boutique investment bank focused on small cap emerging growth companies in the health care, technology, media, transportation & logistics, and natural resources sectors. Mr. Strandberg’s deep automotive industry knowledge and network, combined with his significant transaction experience on both the sell side and the buy side, makes him a valuable asset to FOCUS’s Automotive Aftermarket Team. Mr. Strandberg earned a Master of Science degree in entrepreneurship from the University of Florida Warrington College of Business and a Bachelor’s degree in business administration and finance from the University of Mississippi.