Yesterday MSD Performance announced that they have officially acquired the ACCEL Performance Group who owns not only ACCEL Ignition, but also Mr. Gasket, Mallory Ignition, Lakewood, Quicktime, and Hays. This announcement may come as a shock to many enthusiasts, but MSD’s rapid growth over the past 12 months has been on every industry professional’s radar. Z Capital, the company that got MSD out of Bankruptcy trouble late in 2013, has been focusing efforts on not only making the most out of MSD’s profitability as a company, but also on expanding it’s reach in the aftermarket. MSD’s goals with the acquisition of the ACCEL Performance Group are to provide even great coverage, support, and product offerings for all us hot rodders and racers.
Congratulations to MSD Performance, we can’t wait to hear more details on what this means for all of us gearheads, but when we know more we’ll get you all the details first!
Until then, here’s the press release they sent over.
For more information on the ACCEL Performance Group, visit www.ACCELNATION.com
For more information on MSD Performance, visit www.MSDPerformance.com
Z Capital Partners Portfolio Company MSDP Group,
Acquires ACCEL Performance Group
Acquisition of Prominent Automotive Performance Parts Manufacturer to Accelerate Growth at MSDP
EL PASO, TX – January 5, 2015 – MSDP Group LLC (“MSDP” or the “Company”), a global leader in vehicle
aftermarket performance ignition and tuning technology, today announced that the Company has
acquired ACCEL Performance Group (“ACCEL”), a prominent performance aftermarket parts
manufacturer, with brands including ACCEL, Mr. Gasket, Mallory Ignition, Lakewood, QuickTime and
Hays brands. http://accelnation.com/
“The acquisition of ACCEL significantly enhances our position in ignition technology and allows MSDP to
expand our product portfolio aimed squarely at diehard racing and street performance enthusiasts,”
said Rick Ruebusch, Chief Executive Officer of MSDP. “ACCEL complements our existing brands,
providing us with both increased capability and an unmatched footprint in the aftermarket
platform. With this complementary acquisition and ACCEL’s impressive portfolio of brands, MSDP has
an even greater ability to serve our customers with new, innovative product offerings and a higher level
of personal service.”
“The automotive aftermarket is a highly dynamic space with consumers that are deeply passionate
about performance, reliability, and heritage as well as the challenges of next-generation vehicles and
government regulations,” continued Mr. Ruebusch. “Adding ACCEL to the MSDP family gives us the
bandwidth and brands to ensure that we continue delivering value to our customers and stakeholders.”
“ACCEL is a natural fit for MSDP and a valuable addition to the Company’s product portfolio,” said James
Zenni, Chairman of MSDP and Chief Executive Officer of Z Capital Partners, L.L.C. (“Z Capital”) “Since
making our investment in December 2013, MSDP has experienced significant growth, as well as
enhanced its product innovation, brand marketing and distribution strategies. We look forward to the
Company’s continued success with the addition of ACCEL and its impressive collection of brands.”
MSDP is a portfolio company of Z Capital.
About MSDP Group LLC
MSDP, headquartered in El Paso, Texas, operates in the street enthusiast, professional racer and
powersports markets, where they maintain industry-leading market share positions across all of their
product categories under the MSD®, Racepak®, Superchips® and Edge® brands.
http://www.msdperformance.com/
About ACCEL Performance Group
ACCEL specializes in performance ignition coils, CD boxes, spark plugs, wires, fuel injectors, filters and
pumps. Mr. Gasket is a trusted name, synonymous with engine sealing products and appearance
accessories. Lakewood and QuickTime manufacture the world’s best and most complete line of bell
housings and suspension products. Hays is a legendary clutch, flywheel and flexplate brand for both
street cars and race applications. Mallory Ignition manufactures ignition products for American muscle
cars and street rods.
About Z Capital Partners
Z Capital Partners, L.L.C. is a leading private equity firm with approximately $1.9 billion of regulatory
assets under management and with offices in Lake Forest, IL and New York, NY. Z Capital pursues a
value-oriented approach in private equity that includes making control investments in companies that
may require growth capital, balance sheet and or operational improvements.
Z Capital portfolio companies currently have aggregate worldwide annual revenues of approximately
$1.5 billion, sell products in over 30 countries, and have in excess of 190,000 associates directly and
through joint ventures.
Z Capital’s investors include prominent global sovereign wealth funds, endowments, pension funds,
insurance companies, foundations, family offices, wealth management firms and other financial
institutions in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. For more information, please
visit http://www.zcap.net/.
But I want to run Mallory, not Accel or MSD. What a damned shame.
I’ll second that also, Mallory made some awesome stuff.
Then buy a Mallory product. Just because MSD bought Mallory doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to buy Mallory parts.
Looks like Mallory is out of business now.
Interesting – I was pretty sure Accel was having some financial trouble. I can’t exactly say I’m surprised.
Great……….Now they can collectively raise the prices of all the brands due to no competition ……….sounds great Huh?!?!?!? I’m sure the consumer is going to be the winner.
Modifying your car is already too expensive – this is only going to make it worse. My 300C I’ve owned for 6 years is stock except for some self-installed mufflers because I can’t afford anything. $1000 for headers? $1000 for a cat-back? I even went to a local exhaust shop and they wanted $600 to do from the cats back.
I just rebuilt the engine a couple months back and was looking at upgrading the cam. Would have been another $6-800 by the time I was done. Stock it is.
I have to say that growing up, I always used Mr.Gasket stuff and was pleased. I was out of the “fun car” stuff for several years after a layoff but started fixing up a ’71 SS Nova. I bought a few Mr.Gasket things here and there and found out pretty quick that it’s not the same company……..or quality that I was use to. In other words, you sell me shit parts and expect me to be a repeat customer???
I hope MSD can turn these businesses around and bring pride back to the names we knew.
MSD didn’t buy Accel, Mr. Gasket and the other companies. Z Cspital, a venture capital firm did and added them to its portfolio of companies along with MSD.
@ Turbo Regal – it probably won’t matter. I’m sure Z Capital is full of MBA bean counters who will question why they now manage two ignition companies and we will probably soon seen consolidation of parts offered. Of course, MSD has alot wider brand recognition, meaning many of the ‘oddball’ items that Mallory and Mallory only makes will soon disappear.
Lets just hope they keep Lakewood and Hays manufacturing where they are at and don’t take this stuff to Mexico like before. I forget who B&M bought before but it included hamburger pans and hurst.
Sometimes things like this are good at other times bad in Australia we have two major supermarkets Coles & Woolworths who dictate prices to their suppliers & charge companies for shelf space in their stores. They have also moved into selling fuel & liquor squeezing out independant store owners. Now something like one in 8 people in Australia is indirectly employed by these companies.
Imagine going into your major parts stores & only seing Z capital brands as they would refuse to supply unless given exclusive shop space, then imagine how expensive parts could be priced .
Accel used to have pretty good support for their engine management stuff, I hope that continues…
The Accel DFI setup had been discontinued for a couple months, and they’d been quietly getting out of the business for about a year before that and pretending nothing was wrong. It did not appear they had the resources to develop a new system in house. I don’t see MSD bringing it back, but I could be wrong.