May 7, 2020 — In an internal email this morning, Cox Automotive President and CEO Sandy Schwartz announced the company is implementing a series of cost-cutting moves that include furloughing more than 12,500 employees beginning May 17 due to the financial impact created by COVID-19. The furloughs will impact about 36% of Cox Automotive’s entire… Continue Reading
May 3, 2020 — In an SEC filing late last week, CDK Global revealed the terms of the sale of its digital marketing division to Ansira Partners. As suspected, the deal was not for much money. CDK is getting a $24 million note receivable from Ansira. There was a surprise, however. CDK is getting a… Continue Reading
May 1, 2020 — SiriusXM-owned Automatic Labs announced on its website it is shutting down operations on May 28, 2020, due to COVID-19. In a statement on its website, the company says, “With fewer consumers purchasing and leasing vehicles and drivers on the road, we unfortunately do not see a path forward for our business.… Continue Reading
January 6, 2020 — DealerOn, Inc. is announcing this morning a strategic partnership with private equity firm NexPhase Capital. Brothers Ali and Amir Amirrezvani, who founded the website and digital marketing company in 2004, began talking with NexPhase in early 2019 and closed the deal in November. Over its 15 years, DealerOn has grown into… Continue Reading
January 6, 2020 — Dealer Tire announced this morning it is acquiring Dent Wizard in what is the first big M&A announcement this year. Dealer Tire, which was acquired by Bain Capital in 2018 in a deal rumored to be in the $2.5 billion range, says in a press release the acquisition of Dent Wizard… Continue Reading
New Era Taking Shape in Auto Retail Vendor M&A Activity November 1, 2019 — Pivotal. That’s probably the best word to describe vendor mergers and acquisitions and investments among automotive retail vendors in 2019. Aggressive roll-up plays, new directions, and evolving industries forming now will reshape the industry over the next five years. In TBR’s… Continue Reading
On December 2nd and 3rd, The Banks Report will hold its third annual AUTOVATE conference in Austin, TX at the Kimpton Van Zandt Hotel. We’ve designed the summit to be a boutique, one-of-a-kind event to help dealer executives, investors, entrepreneurs, and automakers cut through the typical conference hype. We take a unique approach in that… Continue Reading
July 17, 2019 — New York-based private equity firm CIP Capital is continuing the roll-up strategy it started in 2016 when it acquired four marketing firms — OneCommand, Peak Performance, TimeHighway and DPS (Dealer Product Services) — combining them into a new entity called Affinitiv. CIP Capital is acquiring Clearwater, FL-based AutoLoop and will merge… Continue Reading
July 16, 2019 — Late last week, CDK Global and Cox Automotive and its subsidiaries informed the federal court in Illinois they have settled their lawsuits resulting from a long-standing dispute over access to data and how that data is used. The settlement does not impact other parties involved in the multi-district litigation (MDL) that… Continue Reading
June 3, 2019 — After three and half years at the helm of TrueCar, Chip Perry is stepping down as CEO and president, the company announced today. TrueCar has not named a replacement for Perry, who will continue to consult with the company. Perry, one of the pioneers in the automotive Internet space, founded AutoTrader… Continue Reading