August 24, 2017 — (Originally published on LinkedIn) Since July, venture capital firms have invested $159.2 million into the automotive retail industry. And all of the capital is going into five companies whose solutions focus on online transactions. Overall, there have been 20 total deals since January in the industry — eight investments, 10 acquisitions… Continue Reading
August 21, 2017 — The segment is still in its nascent phase but the roll up of marketing attribution firms in the automotive retail space has started. Late last week, Semcasting acquired TransparencyAI, a data analytics firm which has come on strong in the last year helping publishers measure the effectiveness of their digital advertising… Continue Reading
August 17, 2017 — Following a first quarter with only one announced acquisition, the second quarter ended with eight acquisitions, two public offerings and three investments, bringing the mid-year total to 13 deals in the automotive retail vendor space. The rebound puts 2017 on a similar pace with 2016 which saw 31 total deals. Much of…
May 24, 2017 — CDK Global is announcing this morning that it is acquiring Auto/Mate Dealership Systems. The move, which will further consolidate the dealer management system (DMS) space, should be completed in late summer once the regulatory process runs its course. Financial terms for the deal have not been disclosed yet. Auto/Mate was started as… Continue Reading
May 23, 2017 — We’re still waiting the official announcement, but sources have confirmed Experian Automotive will announce in the near future that it has acquired String Automotive, a 12 year-old data analytics firm based in Newton, MA. The acquisition cements a relationship that began in 2014 when Experian Automotive’s Auto Market DNA℠ demographic and behavioral information’s… Continue Reading
May 14, 2017 — Acquisition activity among auto retail vendors is slowly rebounding following a first quarter that brought only one deal. In recent weeks, Dominion Web Solutions, Drivin, Automatic and World Dealer were acquired while Carvana launched an initial public offering (IPO). Next up is Cars.com which will begin trading on the New York…
April 6, 2017 — (UPDATE — SEE BELOW) Acquisition activity among automotive retail vendors has ground to a halt in the the first quarter this year, according to data compiled by The Banks Report. Other than Solera Holding’s purchase of the British-based Autodata the first week of January, there have been no investments, IPOs or acquisitions…
January 6, 2017 — Solera Holdings announced yesterday it has acquired the British-based Autodata from Bowmark Capital and Five Arrows Principal Investments for £340 million ($418 million). Autodata, which was founded in 1975, publishes technical service and repair information to the automotive aftermarket. It licenses data from 136 manufacturers covering 32,000 different models globally. Its owners, Bowmark… Continue Reading
January 2, 2017 — M&A activity among automotive retail vendors for the year ended quietly with only four deals completed in the fourth quarter. Nevertheless, the 31 acquisitions and investments in 2016 surpassed the 30 in 2015. The four deals in the fourth quarter include (more information about the following deals are included in the…
Except for a couple of investments from JMI Equity, M&A activity in the automotive retail vendor space has been silent in the fourth quarter. With three weeks left to go in the year, there have been 27 investments or acquisitions among vendors to date. (For more analysis on investment and acquisitions in the automotive retail…