Henley to invest over $100m in US car wash business – Henley Express Wash

By September 18, 2019January 11th, 2023European & USA Commercial Real Estate, Property Week
Henley Investments under Henley Express Wash Purchases a Five-Location Car Wash Chain in Greensboro, North Carolina

Henley is positioning the Henley Express Wash in a market it says is worth $1.2bn per annum.

Henley Investments, a private equity real estate firm based in the UK and the US, has completed the off-market acquisition of a car wash operating company and its five-asset portfolio of car washes. It said it will invest $100m overall in the business.

It has bought the operating company and underlying real estate, which will be managed under the “Henley Express Wash’ (HEW) name, whilst retaining the existing operating name. Henley said the overall market is worth $12bn per annum.

Located in the Greenboro area of North Carolina, HEW plans to modernise the equipment at each facility, and in doing so it said “dramatically increase daily vehicle washing capacity.” The in-bay car wash facilities will be converted to full tunnel and mini tunnel express wash configurations, increasing capacity at each from 10 vehicles per hour to up to 130.

Garrett Solomon, CIO of Henley North America added:

The modernisation of these car wash facilities will provide a great new convenience for Greensboro area drivers. The new equipment will improve efficiency, give customers more wash service options, and reduce their time spent for a car wash, without dramatically changing the cost of the service.

Henley said it is actively pursuing additional stand-alone and portfolio acquisition opportunities across the US which have totalled to more than $500m in the last two years.