September 7, 2016 — TEGNA announced this morning it plans to spin off Cars.com to become its own publicly traded company. The transaction, which likely will be tax free for TEGNA shareholders, should take place in the first half of 2017. TEGNA, which became public last year following the split with media giant Gannett, is one… Continue Reading
September 6, 2016 — Below is a new section for premium subscribers to The Banks Report. We would call it “Cliff Notes,” but that is copyrighted and I prefer not to tempt the lawyers. So we have opted for the title, “TBR Notes.” It will be our perspective of the bigger news stories and what they may mean…
September 1, 2016 — Todd Blue’s IndiGO Auto Group announced yesterday it has acquired BMW of Palm Springs in California. It is the group’s 12th luxury franchise. The acquisition closes out was has been a furious final two weeks in August in which the industry saw nine transactions involving 21 dealerships (25 franchises). The Banks Report will… Continue Reading
August 30, 2016 — The Walser Automotive Group, one of the largest dealer groups in Minnesota, is expanding to the Wichita, KS market acquiring the 10 brand-Wichita Luxury Collection this week. Meanwhile, Rick Ford’s RFJ Autos closed on the Jordan Automotive Group and its Ford and Toyota dealerships in Mishawaka, IN last week. Walser’s purchase of… Continue Reading
August 13, 2016 — Lithia Motors has acquired Kemp Ford in Thousand Oaks, CA, renaming it DCH Ford it’s fourth acquisition in 2016. The purchase should increase Lithia’s revenues by $65 million annually. The publicly traded dealer group, based in Medford, OR, acquired Riverside Subaru in Riverside, CA in January and Ira Toyota in Milford, MA… Continue Reading
August 11, 2016 — Following its June acquisition of the Australian-based Dealer Solutions, Cox Automotive will acquire News Corp’s 50% stake in CarsGuide, an online automotive classifieds site, also in Australia. Once the acquisition closes sometime in the fourth quarter, Cox will combine CarsGuide with Dealer Solutions and Manheim’s Australian division which includes its buying service SellMyCar into… Continue Reading
August 11, 2016 — Cox Automotive announced this week that Brian Geitner will replace Jared Rowe as president of its Media Solutions Group which includes Autotrader, Kelley Blue Book and Dealer.com. Although Rowe was not fired (he is leaving for a position outside of automotive) the move is clear indication that integration following last year’s… Continue Reading
July 26, 2016 — Tegna announced this morning that its subsidiary Cars.com has acquired dealer review company DealerRater. The acquisition, which is scheduled to close in August, will give Cars.com four million consumer-submitted reviews. The company was founded in 2002 by Chip Grueter. In late 2013, private equity firm Great Hill Partners took a majority position in… Continue Reading
While much of the media’s attention is on solutions and companies poised to take advantage of the pending “Connected Car” era, the investment community has made some big plays in automotive retail technology. Within the last 42 months, according to data compiled by The Banks Report nearly $50 billion in capital has changed hands through IPOs, mergers, investments… Continue Reading
July 18, 2016 — In a meeting with dealers on Friday, Volkswagen executives said they would make a decision within the next month regarding compensating its dealers for damages from the diesel emissions scandal. Friday’s event is part of a series of meetings with dealers in which VW executives are outlining how the company plans to… Continue Reading