Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc. announced that its retail used auto parts chain, Pick-n-Pull, signed a definitive agreement to buy the assets and lease the sites for four self service used auto parts stores in St. Louis and Kansas City, Mo.; Columbus, Ohio; and Virginia Beach, Va from Vehicle Recycling Solutions LLC. Schnitzer hopes close the acquisition this month.
Tom Klauer, Pick-n-Pull’s president, said, "The addition of these four stores will fit nicely into Pick-N-Pull's existing 26 store network. The St. Louis, Kansas City and Columbus stores increase the company's existing Midwest store base and the Virginia Beach store provides Pick-n-Pull with an eastern presence giving us a platform to expand our network of stores along the eastern seaboard. In addition, the stores come with good management teams and a work force that will support Pick-n-Pull's integration of this business and the continued expansion of its store network. The Company anticipates this acquisition will be accretive to earnings."
The VRS acquisition comes less than a year after Pick-n-Pull's acquisition of three Canadian stores in March 2004.