September 5, 2017 — The lawsuits are piling up and more are on the way. Late last month, Superior Integrated Solutions (SIS), owner of Darwin Automotive, became the third dealership vendor to file a lawsuit against Reynolds and Reynolds since February alleging anti-competitive practices. At issue are the policies and practices Reynolds and CDK Global…
August 29, 2017 — Jonathan Ord, CEO of CRM vendor DealerSocket, is stepping down as CEO of the company he founded with Brad Perry in 2001. Replacing Ord is Sejal Pietrzak, who is leaving her position as Chief Administration Officer at Active Network. Under Ord’s leadership, DealerSocket grew into one of the top CRM companies… Continue Reading
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…
August 9, 2017 — After seemingly being dominated in the early stages in the antitrust lawsuit filed by Authenticom in May, Reynolds and Reynolds and CDK Global have clawed back to what can be described as a tie. The Seventh District Court of Appeals yesterday granted the two technology firms a stay of the preliminary…
August 1, 2017 — Good news and bad news today on the antitrust front for CDK Global and Reynolds Reynolds. First, in the lawsuit filed by Authenticom, Judge James Peterson of the Wisconsin district court issued a temporary seven-day stay this afternoon of the preliminary injunction he granted Authenticom on Friday to give the appeals…
July 30, 2017 — It is only a preliminary injunction, but the order issued by Judge James Peterson on Friday in the antitrust lawsuit pitting Authenticom against defendants Reynolds and Reynolds and CDK Global appears to have handed the plaintiff a significant victory. Authenticom is calling it a “stunning victory.” The order does grant Authenticom…
July 14, 2017 — BREAKING NEWS — Authenticom today won its request for an emergency preliminary injunction forcing Reynolds and Reynolds and CDK Global to allow it access to their dealer management systems during the course of the antitrust litigation. Authenticom sued Reynolds and CDK in May alleging the two technology firms engaged in antitrust…
June 4, 2017 — CDK Global’s pending acquisition of competitor Auto/Mate is a brilliant deal that should make investors happy. With only 1,300 or so dealerships in play and a price tag that won’t dent the bottom line (although Auto/Mate will get a nice multiple) it isn’t that big of a deal on the surface.…