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 — TBR’s mid-year report on automotive retail vendor M&A activity recaps the 14 acquisitions that occurred the first six months of the year. The report also provides TBR’s outlook for the rest of the year on who the buyers and sellers are, and what deals may be in play. RECAP With 14 acquisitions this year,…
July 18, 2016 — Brian MacDonald’s turn around plan for CDK Global appears to be off to a good start, according to preliminary results for its fourth quarter fiscal year earnings (ending June 30, 2016). MacDonald, who was appointed president and CEO of CDK earlier this year, stepped up the company’s transformation plan that was… Continue Reading
July 7, 2016 — The automotive retail technology world is dominated by three players today — Cox Automotive, CDK Global and Reynolds and Reynolds. On the CRM side, the major players are DealerSocket and ELead1One. Meanwhile, Salesforce is hovering around the industry. The question is, will this power structure continue over the next two to…
July 4, 2016 — Private equity firm Thoma Bravo announced Friday that it is acquiring Trader Corp. from Apax Partners for $1.57 billion. Trader Corp. is the parent of autoTRADER.ca (no affiliation with Autotrader in the U.S. or the U.K.). The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter. Several companies — including possible… Continue Reading
June 27, 2016 — Web services firm ReachLocal announced this evening that it is being acquired by Gannett for approximately $4.60 a share in an enterprise deal totaling $156 million. ReachLocal provides website and digital marketing services to nearly 16,000 local businesses including car dealerships. Gannett, which recently failed in its bid to acquire competitor Tribune Publishing,… Continue Reading
June 27, 2016 — Automotive stocks did not escape the carnage Friday as a reported $2.1 trillion was wiped off the books across the world’s stock exchanges following Thursday’s stunning vote by Great Britain to exit the European Union. In the U.S., the Dow Jones plunged 611 points. The selloff in automotive was across the… Continue Reading
June 22, 2016 — Normally the announcement of a new board appointment isn’t big news, but yesterday’s news that CDK Global’s board has elected Lithium CEO Robert “Rob” Tarkoff to its board is another sign of the company’s ongoing overhaul. CDK has come under pressure from investors to speed up its transformation plan which includes a massive restructuring… Continue Reading
