Vanguard Dealer Services and Southfield Capital Announce an Investment in Centurion Automotive Products Inc. in Partnership with Management

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Nov 08, 2016, 10:24 ET

GREENWICH, Conn., Nov. 8, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Vanguard Dealer Services, a portfolio company of Southfield Capital, announced an investment in Centurion Automotive Products Inc. ("Centurion" or "the Company"), a regional agent of finance and insurance ("F&I") products and services to automobile dealerships in the Northeast. Senior management invested alongside Vanguard and will continue in their operational roles.

Centurion, located in Syracuse, NY, offers third party vehicle service contracts and consulting services focused on enhancing dealership profitability. The Company also distributes vehicle appearance protection products. Centurion has a long history of delivering industry leading income development and sales training to F&I departments throughout the Northeast.

Mark Fiorini, CEO of Centurion, commented, "The Centurion team is very excited about our new partnership with Vanguard and Southfield. Our team is energized and focused on Vanguard's aggressive growth strategy. We look forward to the future, and anticipate the mutual success of our new team and our long term dealer partners."

"We are very excited to partner with an organization with such deep roots in the F&I industry. Centurion's long history in the Northeast is a testament to its customer-centric focus and the value it creates for the dealers it services. Mark Fiorini and his team are excellent additions to the Vanguard platform and we will look to leverage them in our ongoing pursuit to create a best-in-class service offering," said Jim Polley, CEO of Vanguard.

East West Bank provided the senior debt financing. Finn Dixon & Herling acted as legal advisor to Vanguard.

About Vanguard
Headquartered in Fairfield, NJ, Vanguard Dealers Services is a premier agent and administrator of F&I products and services to franchised automobile dealers nationwide. Vanguard offers a full suite of proprietary and third party auto extended warranty products, F&I consulting and reinsurance services focused on enhancing dealership profitability. Vanguard's value-added services include, F&I training, compensation plan development, dealer incentive management, compliance review, sales strategy and F&I specialist staffing.

About Southfield Capital
Southfield Capital is a private equity firm that invests in exceptional, growing companies in the lower middle market. The firm makes control investments in North American companies generating $4 - 12 million in EBITDA with proven business models, attractive growth and profitability trends, and strong leadership. For more information, please visit www.southfieldcapital.com.

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