Australian Clutch Services acquired by GUD Holdings in $32m deal

A Wingfield car parts maker that set up in a “tin shed in Torrensville” in the late 1980s has sold to an ASX-listed group for $32m.

Australian Clutch Services founder Brenton Jordan at the company's Wingfield facility. Picture: Michael Marschall

Three decades after establishing Australian Clutch Services (ACS) in a “tin shed in Torrensville”, Brenton Jordan is celebrating the $32m sale of his business to ASX-listed automotive parts group GUD Holdings.

The deal was completed earlier this month, after years of talks between the two companies.

ACS specialises in the manufacture of new and reconditioned clutches, and is one of the state’s largest aftermarket suppliers in the automotive sector – 65 staff are employed at its Wingfield base.

Mr Jordan said the sale to GUD followed five years of strong growth for the company, which had subsidiaries in New Zealand and the US and exports across the world.

“In the last five years, we have had double-digit growth every year and we’ve also increased employment by around 10 per cent each year,” Mr Jordan said.

“Auto market businesses have been very strong through COVID – people have been spending their money on repairing cars. They haven’t been going on holidays, so they’re driving their cars more.

“The COVID period has ended up being quite a strong period for us.”

Australian Clutch Services founder Brenton Jordan at the company's Wingfield facility. Picture: Michael Marschall

Mr Jordan left his role as production manager at Repco Girling in 1988 to establish ACS, which has since expanded its warehousing footprint across the country, as well as in Poland, the US and the UK.

“From very humble beginnings – I was working seven days a week for three years in the early days, from a small tin shed in Torrensville – the business has grown,” he said.

“We’ve expanded nationally, into New Zealand and set up in America. The US has taken us three years to develop, but there’s some momentum there now.

“The game-changer was a couple of things – setting up warehouses in every state so we could get products to the customer faster, and the ability to get a distributor on-board in Europe and the UK – that really increased what we were doing in export markets.”

When the GST was introduced, ACS shifted its focus from reconditioning clutches to manufacturing new products.

The company produces a wide variety of clutches, including for performance and racing cars. “When the GST came in, we didn’t have the tax advantage anymore, so we went from reconditioned to selling new components,” Mr Jordan said.

“We still do some reconditioning – for vintage cars and things you can’t find anymore, so it’s really become a specialist business.”

GUD owns a range of companies in the automotive aftermarket, with its portfolio of brands including Ryco Filters, Wesfil, Narva, Projecta, DBA and Permaseal.

Mr Jordan will consult back to the company during a six-month transition period.

“I always had a strategy to sell the business at some point and didn’t want to stay in the business once it was purchased,” he said.

“The business really runs very well and there’s a lot of good staff. GUD wants to keep that culture and DNA.

“The GUD group is a company that’s Australian-owned. I had other choices from overseas companies but I felt this was the best fit. I think keeping it Australian-owned was a good thing.”

GUD managing director Graeme Whickman said ACS reported normalised earnings before interest and tax of $5.7m last financial year, and was expected to make a positive contribution to the group’s earnings in the current financial year.

“ACS has a diverse customer base and is a leader in the traditional manual clutch, and the growing higher-value, dual-clutch transmission replacement/repair markets,” Mr Whickman said.

“ACS enjoyed strong sales growth over the past year and is well placed to continue that growth going forward in both ANZ and international markets.”

The current boom in car maintenance and repairs through the COVID-19 pandemic helped GUD to recently report an 18 per cent lift in half-year net profit, to $31.3m.