IC Industries/Whitman Corporation
The company was in crisis by 1970. Profits dropped under the younger Sherman. Father and son also feuded over the future of Midas, resulting in Gordon resigning in September.[8] During this time, a group of Detroit franchise operators broke from Midas, filed an antitrust lawsuit against the company, and founded Tuffy Service Centers, Inc. In 1971, Gordon Sherman initiated a proxy fight to wrest control of the company from his father, but ultimately lost.[9][10][11]
Soon after, the elder Sherman sold his controlling interest in the company, and a merger with IC Industries, Inc. was announced in September 1971.[12] IC installed Ralph Weiger as president, who focused on international expansion and servicing foreign cars. He spent $2.5 million on a new plant outside Chicago that built replacement parts for cars. Midas also opened a130,000-sq.-ft. manufacturing and assembly plant in Elkhart, Indiana to design trailers, campers, and motor-home.
By 1976, Midas had shops in eight foreign countries, recreational vehicle sales up to $106 million, and dollar earnings five times as large as two years earlier. In December, the company opened its 900th shop.[13] Though the company initially focused on muffler installation, Midas introduced brake services in 1979.[14]
In 1981, the company bought a majority interest in 1-2-3 Autoservice, an automotive service chain based in Europe. The deal put Midas in control of 102 shops in Germany, Austria, Belgium, and the Netherlands.[15] IC sold off Midas' unprofitable aluminum boats, truck body, trailer, recreational vehicle, plastic parts, and van-conversion operations in 1982, allowing the company to focus more on its profitable under-the-car services.[16] By 1983, Midas had captured 26% of the $1.3 billion American exhaust repair market, with 1,300 outlets across all 50 states.[17]
IC Industries took on the Whitman name in December 1988.[18] Struggling financially, the conglomerate divested the Pet Inc. brand in 1990,[19] then the Midas International and Hussman refrigeration subsidiaries in 1997.[20]
Independent company
By 2003, Midas was struggling financially. It owed money on a loan that was set to expire, the stock price was down, sales and profits had been in steady decline, and franchise owners were unhappy.[21]
The company hired Alan Feldman in January 2003 to right the ship. That month, Midas signaled it would sell its 77 Parts Warehouse sites. By April, it announced that it was instead shutting down the subsidiary along with its regional distribution centers. Instead, all auto service shops would start buying parts from AutoZone in the US and Uni-Select in Canada.[22][23] Feldman also reduced the number of company operated shops from 111 to 73 and reduced employment at Midas’ headquarters and in the field from 1,900 to 900.[21] Starting in 2004, Midas began selling Bridgestone and Firestone tires in more than 750 shops. The company proved to be profitable for the first time in two years.[24]
Acquisition by TBC
Midas was acquired by TBC Corporation in March 2012 for $310 million. The company had nearly 2,300 locations worldwide at the time.[27] Through November 2015, North American sales increased for 29 straight months under TBC.[6]
Under TBC, Midas made a concerted effort to increase tire services.[28] In 2016, it partnered with Michelin to install the company's tires at more than 1,000 franchised locations.[29] It SpeeDee was divested in 2017 and sold to Grease Monkey.[30][31]
