The Situation
Jax Kar Wash has served Michigan drivers since 1953 — a third-generation family business with strong internal accounting and a clear sense of legacy. By 2021, the company had grown to a point where it needed strategic financial leadership to manage capital expenses, debt service, and cash flow, and to build toward an eventual exit. The challenge was compounded by three separate family ownership groups with differing views on growth versus distributions. A trusted advisor referred FocusCFO, and Area President David Tramontana matched the team with fractional CFO Bob Palmerton in August 2020.
What We Did
Embedded in the Jax Kar Wash leadership team and actively participating in board meetings, the FocusCFO team:
- Built consensus among three ownership groups around a shared capital plan and agreed-upon exit value target
- Developed financial scenarios modeling the business's potential value under various investment and growth strategies
- Led board presentations, capital planning and ROI analysis, budgeting, banking relations, benchmarking, and margin improvement
- Recognized the market opportunity created by a competitor's IPO in June 2021 and pivoted the team into deal mode
- Prepared the Confidential Information Memorandum (CIM), due diligence documents, and financial projections for prospective buyers
- Coordinated with investment banker Amplify Car Wash Advisors to solicit and evaluate bids, reviewed term sheets, and assessed tax implications of each offer
- Negotiated a deal structure that delivered cash payouts to non-operating family members, allowed the second-generation CEO to retire, positioned a third-generation family member as President, and secured key carve-outs important to the selling family
The Result
Jax Kar Wash achieved a successful sale to a private equity buyer — structured as a platform investment rather than a tuck-in acquisition, preserving the operating family's ongoing role and legacy. Every stakeholder group reached its goals.
