August 3, 2015 — Two weeks ago, Spireon, backed by private equity firm Bertram Capital, announced the acquisition of privately-held Inilex, a leading GPS recovery solutions provider for an undisclosed sum. The Spireon name probably isn’t familiar to many in the automotive retail space, but it will be soon as the deal could be an intriguing play with significant…
August 3, 2015 — HGGC, co-founded by former San Francisco 49ers and NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young, has a portfolio of 19 investments, including two in the automotive retail space. Following up on its investment in Auto Alert in April 2014, HGGC announced its second play with an automotive retail vendor last week… Continue Reading
August 2, 2015 — Looking for the next big idea in automotive retail? Or do you want to get your idea in front of potential investors? AutoVentures, a new and unique conference launching in October, seeks to bring entrepreneurs, investors and dealers together for an automotive “Shark Tank” experience. It’s a concept that’s a first… Continue Reading
July 7, 2015 — An investor in Dealertrack filed a lawsuit yesterday afternoon seeking to stop Cox Enterprise’s $4 billion acquisition of the Long Island, NY-based technology firm contending the deal prohibits investors from participating in Dealertrack’s projected growth while providing executives with golden parachutes. The suit claims the agreement is the “culmination of a…
June 29, 2015 — Over the next several months, we believe the automotive industry will see a more aggressive Cars.com at play in the acquisitions market as its parent company, the newly minted Tegna begins trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TGNA this morning. Gannett Co., the giant newspaper publishing and…
June 15, 2015 — The big announcement finally happened — Cox Automotive is buying DealerTrack for $4 billion — approximately $63 a share — up from the $39 a share DealerTrack was trading at on Friday. We’ll have our analysis in the next day or so. But this is the biggest deal in the vendor… Continue Reading
June 6, 2015 — An erupting scandal involving former Fiat Chrysler and Mercedes Benz executives in Australia snags website provider MotorTrak and potentially threatens its business globally while raising questions about its deal to provide websites to Mercedes Benz retailers in the U.S. For the last week, media outlets in Australia and New Zealand have been… Continue Reading
May 28, 2015 — The acquisitions in the automotive retail space keep coming. The latest is J.D. Power and Associates’ acquisition of NADA Used Car Guides, announced minutes ago. It’s a move that will shake up the used vehicle pricing guides space, which includes Hearst Corporation’s Black Book and Kelley Blue Book, which is owned by…
May 22, 2015 — Yesterday, Autobytel announced the acquisition of competitor Dealix for $25 million from CDK Global, confirming a prediction The Banks Report made in February. We have the inside story and a full analysis of the deal and what it means for the industry and Autobytel’s future. Meanwhile, numbers show the leads business may…
May 17, 2015 — New Country Motor Cars Inc. recently added six top-line franchises to bring its total number of locations to 30. It’s only the seventh transaction since January 2013 that included six or more dealerships and is the second biggest acquisition of the year. Michael Cantanucci’s New Country Automotive Group in Hartford, CT is turning into…