Law firm DMH Stallard has advised Cedar Garage on the demerger of its electric vehicle (EV) repair business, enabling owners Matt Copp and Kev Pearce to launch a new joint venture.
Cedar Garage, founded in 1982 in Worthing, West Sussex, and taken over by Copp and Pearce in 2013, offers servicing, repairs, diagnostics and MOT testing for petrol, diesel and hybrid vehicles.
The demerger allows Copp and Pearce to establish LKQ Electriq, a new business providing independent garages and bodyshops with a repair-first solution for EV batteries and high-voltage components, while Cedar Garage continues its existing operations.
Danos Athanasi, corporate partner at DMH Stallard, led the work for Cedar Garage and the owners alongside corporate partner Chris Gleeson. Athanasi said: “We are thrilled to have supported Cedar, Matt and Kev on the demerger and joint venture. Both projects were a long time in the planning, and it is great to see the visions become a reality. I have no doubt that the partnership with LKQ will be a great success and look forward to seeing LKQ Electriq thriving. This was yet another fantastic team effort by the DMH Corporate Sussex team (Chris, Beth and other specialists at DMH) delivering for a local business, which required superb skill and patience in bringing together the complexities of a demerger and joint venture resulting in a successful closing of both.”
Pearce added: “Working with DMH made the process manageable. They presented everything in a way that we could understand, which for anyone that does not have a degree in law was needed. It was a pleasure to deal with Chris and Danos, and I wouldn’t have wanted to go through the process without them. We are made up that we have completed and look forward to the next chapter.”
Copp said: “We had fantastic support and legal guidance from Danos, Chris and their team throughout, and we thank them greatly. Over the past decade, we have worked to prove that safe and reliable EV battery and high voltage component repairs can be delivered outside OEM channels. With LKQ Electriq, we bring that capability directly to garages and bodyshops enabling them to say ‘yes’ to EV repair work they might otherwise have to decline. Our unique repair solutions avoid the need for a full battery replacement – keeping EVs running more sustainably.”
