MKH Capital Partners has hired Thomas Welter to lead Clean Streak Ventures, its express car wash platform company.
Orlando-headquartered Clean Streak was founded by MKH in November 2019 and operates ten locations in Florida. The company has closed three transactions in the past six months and plans to continue growing both organically and through add-on acquisitions.
Clean Streak brands include Top Dog Express Car Wash & Oil Change with four locations Orlando (acquired in November 2019); Blue Water Car Wash with three locations in Orlando (acquired in March 2020; and Clean Machine Car Wash with three locations in the Naples/Fort Myers metropolitan area (acquired in January 2020).
“Our team identified the express car wash space as an industry with attractive opportunities for consolidation and growth and created Clean Streak as the foundation for a national operator of high-quality car washes,” said Miguel Heras, a managing partner of MKH.
Prior to joining Clean Streak in February 2020, Mr. Welter was the chief operating officer of Minnesota-headquartered Lift Brands, a franchiser of gyms, yoga and kickboxing brands including Snap Fitness, 9Round, Yoga Fit, Steele Fitness and Fitness OnDemand. Earlier, from 2010 to 2017, he was the vice president of franchising for Byrider, an Indiana-based franchiser of used-car dealerships. Mr. Welter has also worked at Yum! Brands!, 24 Hour Fitness, and Avis. He is a graduate of the University of Nebraska and played two seasons with the National Football League’s St. Louis Cardinals.
“We are thrilled to partner with Tom – who has an excellent track record in building membership-centered, multi-unit businesses – in order to scale Clean Streak in its existing markets and new MSAs,” said Annette Rodriguez, a managing partner at MKH.
Potential add-ons for Clean Streak include multi-unit express or flex-serve car washes that have revenues of at least $1.5 million per site and at least 85% of revenue from express services. For new markets, acquisitions should have a minimum of four locations, and single sites are considered in Clean Streak’s existing markets.
“Clean Streak’s growth strategy is focused on acquiring or partnering with strong multi-unit regional players in new markets and pursuing tuck-ins in its existing markets,” said Andres Bethencourt, a director at MKH.
MKH makes control and significant minority investments of $20 million to $300 million in companies that have EBITDA of $3 million to $30 million. MKH is headquartered in Miami, Florida with an additional office in Panama City, Panama.
Private Equity Professional | July 8, 2020
