Bain and ADIA to acquire fleet management firm Merchants

• Merchants CEO Brendan P. Keegan will become president and chairperson
• Founded in 1962, Merchants has over $2 billion in assets under management
• Broadhaven and BNP Paribas are serving as financial advisors to Merchants

Bain Capital and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority have agreed to acquire Merchants, a provider of fleet management services. No financial terms were disclosed.

Merchants CEO Brendan P. Keegan will become president and chairperson while members of the company’s leadership team will remain in their current roles and be co-investors in the business.

Founded in 1962, Merchants has over $2 billion in assets under management and 165,000 managed commercial fleet units across North America.

“When we initially provided growth financing to Merchants in 2020, we had our eye on a longer-term partnership,” said Olof Bergqvist, a managing director at Bain Capital, in a statement. “As the fleet management industry continues to experience considerable disruption, we are excited to continue to support Brendan and the Merchants team on their path of consistent long-term growth driven by connected vehicles, multi-modal transportation, efficiency requirements and data-driven intelligence.”

The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2022.

Broadhaven and BNP Paribas are serving as financial advisors to Merchants while WilmerHale is serving as legal advisor. Davis Polk is serving as legal advisor to Bain Capital and the consortium, and Gibson Dunn is serving as legal advisor to ADIA. BNP Paribas has acted as the sole acquisition financing provider for the transaction.

Merchants is headquartered in New England.

Founded in 1984, Bain Capital has approximately $160 billion in assets under management.
ADIA was established in 1976 and invests funds on behalf of the government of Abu Dhabi.