New York, May 21, 2026, 10:05 EDT
- Trading in Mister Car Wash has stopped. Leonard Green & Partners finished its take-private acquisition.
- Public holders are set to receive $7.00 a share in cash. MCW last traded close to $7.10 before the halt, according to market data.
- The company is no longer in the S&P SmallCap 600. F&G Annuities & Life took its spot before trading began on May 19.
Mister Car Wash is no longer public. Leonard Green & Partners funds finished their all-cash buyout of the car-wash company, putting its enterprise value at $3.1 billion—equity and debt included. Mister Car Wash said its common stock stopped trading and will leave Nasdaq.
This is where the trade sits: the MCW quote is gone, so traders are working through the cash-out from the merger. When the deal closed, almost all shares turned into a claim for $7.00 a share in cash, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
Timing is an issue for holders and funds tracking the index. S&P Dow Jones Indices said F&G Annuities & Life is set to replace Mister Car Wash in the S&P SmallCap 600 before Tuesday, May 19’s open, linking the move to the Leonard Green deal. Index funds that follow the benchmark had to react and rebalance.
Nasdaq traded regular hours Thursday, with its cash-equity session open from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern. MCW didn’t trade—shares were halted after the May 18 after-market. The company asked Nasdaq to suspend trading and start delisting after that.
Mister Car Wash traded at $7.10 in the latest data, up a penny. The last trade came through May 19, with volume at around 29.5 million shares. That’s pretty much on the deal price. With the stock coming out of the market, the quote doesn’t mean much anymore.
Chairman and CEO John Lai said the move provides the company with “greater flexibility” to invest in customer experience. Lai also said Leonard Green, a partner since 2014, “understand[s] the business and industry deeply.” SEC
The deal didn’t come as a shock. Back in February, Mister Car Wash said Leonard Green, which already held roughly 67% of its common stock, was set to buy the rest at $7.00 a share. At the time, the company called that price a 29% premium over the 90-day volume-weighted average price up to Feb. 17; that’s a trading metric combining price and volume across a stretch.
Mister Car Wash kept growing before the close. The company reported first-quarter numbers on April 29. Revenue rose 6% to $277.9 million, with comparable-store sales up 3.9%. Unlimited Wash Club memberships hit about 2.5 million. Comparable-store sales measure shops open long enough for a year-over-year check.
Mister Car Wash had 549 car washes in 21 states as of March 31, its quarterly filing shows. The company said it had about 550 locations when it announced the closing and called its subscription program the biggest in North America.
The comparable set is slimmer now. Driven Brands, the auto-services company, is still public and last changed hands at $12.68, down 2.4%. Its market cap sits near $2.09 billion. Driven has been adjusting its business after selling the international car-wash unit and now reports around Take 5, Franchise Brands, and Auto Glass Now.
The deal doesn’t wipe out operating risk, just hides it from public view. An SEC filing shows Mister Car Wash Holdings amended its credit agreement for a $900 million senior secured first-lien incremental term loan, debt that’s backed by collateral and sits ahead of most other claims. Higher leverage, weaker consumer spending, or soft membership trends could hit the private company even after public shareholders exit.
MCW has turned into a clean-up job for the market now. Most of what’s left deals with payment, delisting, and whether any holders try to press appraisal rights if they didn’t back the merger and ask for a court-set value in Delaware.
