NEW YORK (KTVZ) – The investment firm that owns Les Schwab Tire Centers is exploring options, including a sale of the Bend-based tire store chain that could value the chain above $7 billion, including debt, people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.

According to the report, Meritage Group has hired investment bankers at Goldman Sachs to begin a sale process for Les Schwab Tire, which is expected to attract interest from private equity firms and other tire retailers. The sources requested anonymity because the talks are confidential.

A spokeswoman for Les Schwab Tire Centers told NewsChannel 21 on Monday that the company had no comment on the Reuters report.

The tire retailer was founded in 1952 by Bend-based Les Schwab, the “Tire King,” and has more than 500 stores in 13 states in the western United States, according to its website, and employs more than 7,000 people.

Meritage, a family-run investment firm, announced the purchase of the tire business in September 2020.

Terms were not disclosed when one of Central Oregon’s best-known companies and the region’s third-largest private employer put itself up for sale in late 2019, but analysts said a deal could fetch as much as $3 billion.

Les Schwab Tire sells tires and other auto parts as well as auto services and is one of the largest tire retailers in the United States, along with retailers such as Mavis Tire and Discount Tire, which are also privately held.

“Private equity firms have traditionally been active investors in the tire and auto industries because these companies generate steady cash flow and are considered relatively recession-resistant and less vulnerable to disruption from e-commerce,” the Reuters report said.