November 13, 2023 — CarOffer founder and serial entrepreneur Bruce Thompson is walking away with another $75 million in cash as CarGurus announced last week it is acquiring the final 49% of the Texas-based online used-vehicle trading platform. Zach Hallowell, whom CarGurus recently snatched from Cox Automotive’s Manheim division, will lead CarOffer following Thompson’s resignation.… Continue Reading
October 9, 2023 — An intriguing announcement in the electric and autonomous vehicle service and repair space last week as Kinetic, an Infrastructure-as-a-Service startup, announced a $10 million Series A capital raise. Focusing on the EV side of service, maintenance, and repair is a play we haven’t seen before, but makes sense as the auto… Continue Reading
October 9, 2023 — Since Lendbuzz CEO and Co-Founder Amitay Kalmar joined us on stage at the AUTOVATE conference in December last year, his company revenues jumped more than 80% in 2023, and has just announced a $45 million raise in equity funding along with $300 million a forward flow facility. The $45 million infusion… Continue Reading
August 15, 2023 — Since a recapitalization investment from the Houston-based Capstreet Group in 2021, TradePending has acquired two companies — AutoAPR in 2022, and Snapcell, a transaction announced this week. Snapcell, a SaaS automotive video marketing platform, was founded by Brent Williams in 2018 in the U.K. Its U.S. headquarters are in Tampa. It… Continue Reading
July 20, 2023 — On a blistering acquisition pace this year, The Reynolds and Reynolds Company announced its fourth purchase since January, picking up Xzilon, an Oregon-based vehicle protection and appearance solution provider. Xzilon, founded in 2003, offers F&I products that protect and enhance the exteriors and interiors of vehicles, boats, RVs, and motorcycles. Kevin… Continue Reading
July 18, 2023 — JM Family Enterprises Inc. is taking the lead in a new growth funding round for Skaivision, a computer vision artificial intelligence solutions provider for automotive dealerships. Mark Queen, Skaivision founder and CEO, unveiled the concept at the AUTOVATE conference in December 2021. Since then, he raised a seed round, including investment from dealers, developed the software,… Continue Reading
July 10, 2023 — In June, 16 dealership buy-sell transactions involving 39 rooftops were announced. We’ll likely hear of more June deals in the coming weeks, as there often is a lag between a transaction’s completion and its announcement. July is off to a slow start with only two transactions being announced through the first… Continue Reading
June 27, 2023 — The Morgan Automotive Group finally announced its long-rumored acquisition of Al Hendrickson Toyota in Coconut Creek, FL, last week. The transaction is one of five dealership buy-sells involving eight rooftops announced in the U.S. the last few days. Founded in 1989 by Al Hendrickson Sr. and his son, Al Hendrickson Jr,… Continue Reading
June 9, 2023 — June got off to a hot start with M&A in the auto retail sector with at least three transactions being announced this week (and two we know that have not been announced yet). For the most part, the acquisitions were tuck-in deals providing the buyers with software that both expands their… Continue Reading
May 10, 2023 — STELLA Automotive AI, a provider of high-end conversational AI technology, announced yesterday it has closed a seed round of financing. The round included multiple well-known dealer groups such as Maroone USA, the Pohanka Automotive Group, and Czubay Family Enterprises. Terms of the financing of the seed were not disclosed. However, investors… Continue Reading