Mike’s Carwash splitting into two companies

The central Indiana locations of Mike’s Carwash Inc. will undergo a name change as part of a reorganization in which the Indianapolis-based business will split into two separate operations, company officials disclosed Thursday afternoon.

Brothers Bill Dahm and Mike Dahm have completed what the company is calling a “friendly reorganization” that calls for Bill to operate the 26 central Indiana locations under the new name Crew Carwash.

Mike Dahm will operate the other 15 locations under the established Mike’s name, but with a new look, the company said. Overall, Mike’s has 41 locations in Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky.

The split is expected to take effect Oct. 5.

Locations in Indianapolis, Anderson, Lafayette, Terre Haute, Columbus and Kokomo will switch to the Crew name.

Carwashes in South Bend, Fort Wayne, Evansville, Dayton, Cincinnati and Florence, Kentucky, will remain Mike's.

“Both companies look forward to great things to come in the future and appreciate what has always made us No. 1 … our customers,” the company said in a written statement.

Mike's was founded in Fort Wayne by Joe Dahm, the father of Bill and Mike, in 1948.

In a lawsuit filed in Hamilton County in 2010 by former co-owner and cousin Jerry Dahm, the company was valued at about $49 million, with real-estate holdings worth another $24 million.

A judge in July 2012 awarded Jerry Dahm just $140,000 in damages in a civil case that sought close to $30 million. Jerry claimed his cousins fired him after 30 years in the business and forced him to sell his shares in the company in 2010 at an “unfairly low” value.

The judge ruled the brothers "had legitimate reasons for terminating Jerry Dahm."

Mike’s headquarters are at 10251 Hague Road on the city’s northeast side.

The company said that all previously purchased wash books, coupons and discount tickets will always be accepted at Crew Carwash locations.