NEW YORK, Feb. 21, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C., a nationally recognized shareholder rights law firm, is investigating potential claims against Driven Brands Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: DRVN) on behalf of long-term stockholders following a class action complaint that was filed against Driven on December 22, 2023 with a Class Period from October 27, 2021 to August 1, 2023. Our investigation concerns whether the board of directors of Driven have breached their fiduciary duties to the company.
Driven is the largest automotive services company in North America. Through its portfolio of brands, Driven provides customers with a range of automotive needs, including paint, collision, glass, oil change, maintenance, and car wash. Those brands include, among others: Take 5 Oil Change®, Take 5 Car Wash®, Meineke Car Care Centers®, MAACO®, CARSTAR ®, 1-800-Radiator & A/C ®, and Auto Glass Now®. The Company operates through four reportable business segments: Maintenance; Car Wash; Paint, Collision and Glass; and Platform Services.
Driven’s acquisition of existing businesses in the automotive services industry, and its integration of those businesses, has been a core component of the Company’s growth strategy. Over the last several years, Driven expanded its operations to offer car washes and extended its reach in the auto glass market. In August 2020, Driven acquired International Car Wash Group, the world’s largest car wash company by location count. In late December 2021, Driven acquired Auto Glass Now, through which Driven expanded its auto glass business into the U.S. market. Through a series of subsequent acquisitions, Driven quickly became the second-largest auto glass repair business in North America.
The complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Defendants made numerous materially false and misleading statements and omissions that fall into two categories: (i) statements concerning Driven’s ability to efficiently and effectively integrate a high volume of acquired businesses, including statements related to the status of integrating its U.S. auto glass businesses; and (ii) statements concerning the performance and competitive position of Driven’s car wash business segment. Specifically, throughout the Class Period, Defendants repeatedly touted Driven’s ability to execute and integrate acquisitions as a “core strength,” and assured investors that it had made “significant progress” integrating the auto glass businesses it had acquired. The Company also represented that the large scale of its car wash business served as a “competitive moat” that would preserve Driven’s competitive position. While Driven acknowledged some “softness” in customer demand for its car wash business segment, the Company downplayed that issue and pointed investors to the growth of its car wash subscriptions, which Driven labeled as the “Holy Grail” in the car wash business.
However, Driven was several quarters behind on integrating its auto glass businesses, and the Company’s car wash business was faltering and more exposed to a decline in demand from retail customers than Defendants represented to investors. As a result, the Company’s statements concerning its business and prospects, including its fiscal year 2023 financial guidance, were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.
On May 8, 2023, Driven revealed that, on May 4, 2023, the Company’s former Chief Financial Officer, Defendant Tiffany L. Mason (“Mason”), had abruptly left the Company under unusual circumstances. Mason’s exit came just one day after Driven reported its financial results for the first quarter of 2023.
Then, on August 2, 2023, Driven reported earnings for the second quarter of 2023 that missed expectations, including disappointing results for its Paint, Collision and Glass business segment as well as its Car Wash segment. With respect to its auto glass business, the Company admitted that it was at least “several quarters” behind on its integration of the businesses it had acquired. In addition, regarding Driven’s Car Wash segment, the Company disclosed that increased exposure to “intensified competitive intrusion” negatively impacted demand from Driven’s high-margin retail car wash customers. As a result of delays in Driven’s integration of its acquired auto glass businesses and the faltering performance of its car wash businesses, the Company slashed its full-year earnings guidance for fiscal 2023, despite having reaffirmed that guidance a little over two months earlier. These disclosures caused the price of Driven common stock to decline by $10.63 per share, or 41%.
If you are a long-term stockholder of Driven, have information, would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Brandon Walker or Marion Passmore by email at investigations@bespc.com, by telephone at (212) 355-4648, or by filling out this contact form. There is no cost or obligation to you.
About Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C.:
Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. is a nationally recognized law firm with offices in New York, California, and South Carolina. The firm represents individual and institutional investors in commercial, securities, derivative, and other complex litigation in state and federal courts across the country. For more information about the firm, please visit www.bespc.com. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.
Contact Information:
Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C.
Brandon Walker, Esq.
Marion Passmore, Esq.
(212) 355-4648
investigations@bespc.com
www.bespc.com
