Aaron's sells RIMCO automobile tire, wheel and rim sales and leasing business to Rent-A-Wheel/Rent-A-Tire; divestiture will allow company to focus on financial performance of Aaron's, HomeSmart stores, says Aaron's CEO

Cindy Allen

ATLANTA , January 20, 2014 (press release) – Aaron's, Inc. (NYSE: AAN) announced today the sale of all of the assets of its RIMCO operations to Rent-A-Wheel /Rent-A-Tire. RIMCO and Rent-A-Wheel/Rent-A-Tire stores offer consumers the sales and lease ownership of automobile tires, wheels, and rims.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130826/CL69318LOGO )

"We feel that the sale of RIMCO will be positive for both Aaron's and Rent-A-Wheel /Rent-A-Tire," said Ronald W. Allen, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Aaron's, Inc. "RIMCO was a small part of Aaron's business, with annual revenues of approximately $20 million, and this divesture will enable us to further focus efforts on improving the financial performance of our Aaron's and HomeSmart stores."

RIMCO currently operates a combined 32 Company-operated and franchised stores in 11 states. Rent-A-Wheel/Rent-A-Tire, based in Los Angeles, will now have 123 stores in 15 states. Rent-A-Wheel/Rent-A-Tire plans to continue to operate all the acquired RIMCO stores and retain a majority of its employees.

"We are happy for the physical expansion but even more excited to add the RIMCO employees to our team," said Matt Seaburn, President and Partner of Rent-A-Wheel/Rent-A-Tire. "Our constraint to growth has been finding key talent. This acquisition adds strength to our ranks that will help the company to accelerate growth."

About Aaron's, Inc.

Aaron's, Inc. (NYSE: AAN), a leader in the sales and lease ownership and specialty retailing of residential furniture, consumer electronics, home appliances and accessories, has more than 2,120 Company-operated and franchised stores in 48 states and Canada. Founded in 1955 by entrepreneur and Chairman Emeritus R. Charles Loudermilk, Sr. and headquartered in Atlanta, Aaron's has been publicly traded since 1982. For more information, visit www.aarons.com. Aaron's, Inc. includes the Aarons.com and ShopHomeSmart.com brands.

SOURCE Aaron's, Inc.

Garet Hayes; garet.hayes@aarons.com; 678-402-3863

* All content is copyrighted by Industry Intelligence, or the original respective author or source. You may not recirculate, redistrubte or publish the analysis and presentation included in the service without Industry Intelligence's prior written consent. Please review our terms of use.