One of the main sponsors of the upcoming Auto Intel Summit and NRC Spring Summit now has new ownership.
Late on Thursday, S&P Global Mobility announced the acquisition of Market Scan Information Systems, a leading provider of automotive pricing and incentive intelligence and one of the sponsors of those events set to be orchestrated by Cherokee Media Group beginning on April 18.
According to a news release, financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Executives highlighted the addition of Market Scan to S&P Global Mobility will enable the integration of detailed transaction intelligence in areas that are complementary to existing services for dealers, OEMs, finance companies, and other market participants.
“We are excited to add Market Scan to the S&P Global Mobility product family. The acquisition adds powerful new datasets and capabilities to S&P Global Mobility that will allow us to create even more value for our clients and power a next generation of digital automotive retail opportunities,” said Joe LaFeir, president of automotive insights at S&P Global Mobility.
“As the digital landscape continues to evolve in support of more robust information informing the vehicle purchase process, the integration of Market Scan products and solutions into the S&P Global Mobility and automotiveMastermind portfolios will provide additional value for joint customers today and new clients into the future as new solutions are built,” LaFeir continued in the news release.
Matt Leone, chief executive officer at automotiveMastermind added, “Mastermind is thrilled about the potential to use Market Scan’s offerings to improve our prediction pricing accuracy and marketing engagement for our dealer partners.”
Rusty West, president and chief executive officer of Market Scan, will remain with S&P Global Mobility to drive successful integration and product innovation.
“When my father and I started Market Scan, we never thought capturing the attention of industry-leading giants was a possibility — we were simply focused on selling desking software to car dealers. Now, over three decades later, we have been acquired by one of the greatest and most respected companies in the world,” West said.
“I am very excited that Market Scan has joined the S&P Global family. Our values and visions are perfectly aligned, positioning us to collectively evolve automotive commerce in ways never before imagined. I’m extremely proud of our Market Scan family members for all they have accomplished. Their talent, dedication, and vision have been and will continue to be, an important element in creating solutions for some of the most difficult problems in the industry,” West went on to say.
KPMG Corporate Finance, RL Frey and MW Juron Automotive provided external consultancy to Market Scan for the sale.
On Monday, S&P Global announced the acquisition of TruSight Solutions, a provider of third-party vendor risk assessments.
Executives highlighted through a news release that the acquisition will combine with KY3P by S&P Global and integrate into the Market Intelligence division.
They said the move will further expand the breadth and depth of S&P Global’s third party vendor risk management solutions by offering high-quality validated assessment data to clients designed to reduce further the vendor due diligence burden on service providers to the financial services industry.
“Providing innovative, connected solutions for risk management is a key area of strategic focus for our business,” said John Barneson, head of network and regulatory solutions at S&P Global Market Intelligence.
“The combination of TruSight with our KY3P business will accelerate the development of common industry standards for third-party risk management and will enable our clients to mutualize costs, streamline workflows and eliminate inefficiencies,” Barneson continued. “We look forward to welcoming our new colleagues from TruSight and together enhancing our value to clients.”
TruSight was founded by a group of leading financial institutions, including Bank of America, Bank of New York Mellon, JP Morgan and Wells Fargo. S&P Global mentioned TruSight has an extensive inventory of risk assessments created by detailed reviews of third-party suppliers to its customers.
The transaction closed effective Jan. 1. Terms were not disclosed.
Broadhaven Capital served as exclusive sell side financial advisor to TruSight, and Morgan Lewis served as the company’s legal advisor. Gibson Dunn served as S&P Global’s legal advisor.
And the M&A parade in automotive continues.
This week, Credit Bureau Connection, a provider of credit report and compliance solutions to automotive dealers, finance companies, and other end markets, announced the acquisition of CreditDriver Solutions, a soft credit technology provider offering lead generation and sales enablement tools.
According to a news release, founder and CEO Michael Byrd will join CBC as senior vice president of sales. CBC is backed by Capstreet, a Houston-based lower middle market private equity firm.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, according to the announcement.
CreditDriver Solutions’ primary product is CreditDriver, a mobile-first consumer authentication and prequalification solution for the automotive credit industry.
CreditDriver’s Device ID utilizes mobile carrier data to authenticate a consumer’s identity, allowing for real-time pre-fill of consumer data and instant delivery of relevant credit data, including their current automotive tradeline and monthly payment power.
Consumers can benefit from a frictionless and secure experience to get prequalified within seconds, while dealers get better visibility into their consumers’ profiles. This allows them to more easily identify the best vehicles for purchase and virtually eliminates digital fraud and identity theft at the first step.
A secondary product, ApplicantOne, can help dealers and finance companies hire more qualified applicants by automating the hiring process.
“Expanding our technology portfolio is a priority for us, and CreditDriver’s state-of-the-art technology creates value drivers throughout the auto sales process and is emblematic of our commitment to innovation,” CBC CEO David Carner said in the news release. “I am eager to welcome Mike and his experienced team to the Company.”
Byrd said, “Our solutions help dealers increase sales by better identifying consumers who are prequalified and currently in the market for a new vehicle.
“Joining forces with CBC provides us with additional resources for growth, and I’m excited to see CreditDriver incorporated into an end-to-end process from lead generation through compliance to completion,” he went on to say.
Rick Pleczko is CEO of the operating executive group at Capstreet and executive chair at CBC.
“This acquisition presents a compelling investment opportunity for CBC,” Pleczko said. “CreditDriver’s credit-building white-label solution has potential applications beyond the automotive market, and we’re excited about possible growth opportunities.”
Willkie Farr & Gallagher provided legal counsel while Deloitte acted as financial advisor for CBC.
This move arrived during the same week as an acquisition within the dealership BDC space.
On Tuesday, Fitch Group announced an agreement to acquire a majority stake in dv01, a data and analytics provider to the structured finance market.
According to a news release, dv01 will operate as a subsidiary of Fitch Solutions, one of the divisions of Fitch Group.
While financial terms were not disclosed, the company said the acquisition is expected to close by the end of third quarter.
The provider of financial information services with operations in more than 30 countries is comprised of Fitch Ratings, a leader in credit ratings and research, and Fitch Solutions, a provider of data, research and analytics.
With dual headquarters in London and New York, Fitch Group is owned by Hearst.
Founded in 2014, dv01 established itself as a technological innovator in structured finance by offering both loan-level data and fully integrated analytics on its cloud-based platform. Over the years, the company has provided value to clients by ensuring data integrity, streamlining the reporting workflow, and producing market research across various asset classes.
Fitch highlighted that dv01 continues to see strong demand for its solutions, and benefits from successful client relationships with leading financial institutions. Clients leverage dv01’s loan-level data across the investment workflow — from market due diligence to securitization to performance analysis — and make use of offerings such as Loan Data Agent for Securitizations, Portfolio Surveillance, Market Surveillance, Tape Cracker, and Credit Facility Management.
The transaction is the latest in a series of acquisitions by Fitch Group as it expands its offerings. Previous acquisitions include Fulcrum Financial Data in 2018, CreditSights in 2021 and GeoQuant earlier this year.
Fitch Solutions president Ted Niedermayer said: “We are very pleased to be acquiring dv01, a best-in-class data and analytics provider to the structured finance industry. The acquisition underscores Fitch Solutions’ commitment to empowering our clients with critical insights and intelligence to identify opportunities and manage risks.”
Perry Rahbar, who is chief executive officer of dv01, added: “This acquisition marks a milestone for dv01 and signals a new era for the company. Fitch’s resources will strengthen our position as a leading data intelligence company in structured finance, allowing us to deepen our footprint in current asset classes, develop new products and ultimately expand into new markets.”
Jefferies is serving as financial advisor to dv01 and Gunderson Dettmer is serving as legal counsel to dv01.
In February, Polly went through a rebranding process as its dealer client roster using its insurance marketplace for automotive retail surpassed 1,200.
On Tuesday, Polly announced it has closed on an acquisition of automotive marketing and analytics company, Driven Data Technology.
Under the terms of the asset purchase agreement mentioned in a news release, existing customers of Driven Data will become customers of Polly.
“This acquisition represents a unique opportunity for us to provide dealers with the solutions they need to drive more profitable growth. As the world continues to evolve at a record pace, access to comprehensive and reliable data and insights, seamlessly integrated across all major systems, is quickly becoming an even bigger priority for many of our dealer clients,” Polly chief executive officer and founder Travis Fitzgerald said.
“Our modern technology platform, combined with Driven Data’s proprietary first-party analytics and audience segmentation, will undoubtedly help dealers convert more sales and service customers, while unlocking new and exciting opportunities in F&I,” continued Fitzgerald, whose company was among the 2021 Emerging 8 honorees.
Founded in 2013, Polly highlighted that Driven Data continues a long-held mission to leverage data across a plethora of automotive retail systems to help the automotive community attract high value customers more efficiently.
Comprised of data normalization, custom audience creation, and a powerful analytics dashboard, Driven Data’s highly secure and hyper-personalized, open integration platform can integrate and connect first-party data across multiple sources seamlessly, giving dealers the confidence they need to make smart decisions that can be easily measured by way of attribution.
This acquisition expands Polly’s customer engagement capabilities by leveraging secure, first-party data to target in-market car shoppers and service customers more precisely with timely and personalized messaging.
The company added that the acquisition fits perfectly into Polly’s broader commitment to help dealers deliver a better-than-expected customer experience while creating significant new revenue opportunities.
“We’ve helped many forward-thinking dealerships mature their data analytics and marketing capabilities,” said Jon Berna, founder and CEO of Driven Data. “I am so proud of the work our team has accomplished over the past decade and am thrilled to have the opportunity to collaborate with the amazing Polly team to take our combined solutions to the next level.”
To learn more about Polly, visit polly.co.
The volume of dealerships changing hands has been growing for some time. Now in recent days, acquisitions involving products and software connected to financing and retailing are intensifying, too.
On the heels of J.D. Power announcing a pair of acquisitions, TrueCar said on Monday that it has acquired Irvine, Calif.-based Digital Motors in a move intended to accelerate TrueCar’s plan to deliver a robust digital car buying and selling experience with its TrueCar+ marketplace.
Digital Motors’ automotive retail and financial technology platform can give dealers, OEMs, finance companies and other stakeholders the ability to augment their physical presence with a digital storefront or marketplace that offers a seamless omnichannel car buying experience to consumers.
“With TrueCar+, we are creating an asset-light marketplace where consumers have easy and transparent access to a national inventory of vehicles and our dealers have efficient and turn-key access to a national audience of consumers,” TrueCar president and chief executive officer Mike Darrow said in a news release.
“Our acquisition of Digital Motors is a key step in the acceleration of that marketplace, providing immediate access to new capabilities to enable the development of a secure online purchasing and financing experience,” Darrow continued. “In addition, we believe the acquisition will help us to target and attract more dealers, brands, OEMs, lenders and other partners to the TrueCar+ ecosystem.
“We also gain a team with deep experience in building automotive e-commerce and FinTech solutions to help us realize our vision of making TrueCar+ a unique automotive marketplace experience,” he added.
Presidio Technology Partners served as financial advisor to Digital Motors.
“We are excited to join TrueCar and help support the expansion of TrueCar+, making online car buying a delightful, empowering and efficient experience for all parties involved,”Digital Motors CEO Andreas Hinrichs said. “Digital Motors’ configurable and scalable online retailing engine, which can be adapted for a range of automotive use cases, will complement the transactional focus of TrueCar+.”
TrueCar mentioned it has financial flexibility to invest in its business with approximately $235 million in cash and equivalents on its balance sheet at the end of the first quarter.
Allied Solutions is making its solutions stronger, especially for credit unions.
Last week, one of the largest providers of insurance, lending, risk management, and data driven solutions to financial institutions announced the acquisition of CU Direct’s Lending Insights platform.
The company explained this strategic move will strengthen Allied’s vision to harness the power of collaborative analytics to deliver transformative insights to credit unions.
According to a news release, the Lending Insights platform will now become part of a larger data ecosystem.
“Allied Solutions has invested heavily in data science and we are committed to delivering best-in-class analytics technology that provides credit unions a singular enterprise perspective on members, yield, risk, and profitability,” Allied Solutions chief strategic officer Dave Hilger said.
“In servicing the credit union marketplace for over 40 years, Allied has pioneered and delivered solutions to help clients stay ahead of the competition, and this latest investment in Lending Insights is no exception,” Hilger continued.
CU Direct chief operating officer Bob Child added these perspectives in the news release.
“We are extremely excited for Allied to take full ownership and ongoing development of the Lending Insights platform,” Child said. “They are making huge investments into the data analytics space bringing on services that can provide credit union clients with unprecedented capabilities and the Lending Insights platform is a nice addition.
“We also share a similar culture and approach to business as Allied, so this deal just makes sense on many levels. We know our Lending Insights clients will be in great hands,” Child went on to say.
One North Carolina-based firm that offers technology for dealer websites to help potential buyers understand their financing options has been acquired by another Tar Heel State company that provides vehicle valuation and merchandising software solutions to dealerships
TradePending announced on Wednesday that it has acquired AutoAPR.
While financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, TradePending is backed by the Capstreet Group, a Houston-based lower middle market private equity firm.
Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Charlotte, AutoAPR offers lead generation website plug-in tools for dealers that can help consumers understand what they can afford. Hundreds of dealers around the country use AutoAPR’s website tools to help customers generate personal payment estimates, find vehicles in dealers’ current inventory that fit with their budgets, view their credit ratings, and schedule test drive appointments.
According to a news release, AutoAPR founders — chief executive officer Dan Mayer and chief technology officer Daniel Congrove — and their employees will join the TradePending team.
“We partnered with Capstreet last year to create a foundation for a new platform to fast track innovation in the automotive software industry, and our acquisition of AutoAPR is our first step towards that goal,” said Brice Englert, chief executive officer of TradePending, which is based in Chapel Hill.
“TradePending and AutoAPR pair very well together,” Englert continued in the news release. “We both share the same end goal of arming both the dealership and end-consumer with better information about the car buying process, with a similar mission and vision to provide transparency and help dealerships grow their businesses.”
Mayer offered these perspectives about making this move.
“Joining TradePending is truly a great opportunity for our employees and customers to be part of a fast-growing company dedicated to improving the automotive buying process,” he said. “With similar target customers, TradePending’s team can immediately begin selling our products and expand our reach. We couldn’t be more excited to join the TradePending family.”
Adrian Guerra is a partner at Capstreet and shared an optimistic outlook.
“Today’s consumers are entering the most competitive car buying market in decades, and we believe dealers that can demystify the process will have an advantage,” Guerra said.
“This is a synergistic combination that Capstreet expects will benefit both companies, with many cross-selling opportunities ahead. We welcome the AutoAPR team, and look forward to supporting TradePending’s ongoing growth,” Guerra went on to say.
Our recaps of merger-and-acquisition activities now are back in the banking sector.
On Monday morning, TD Bank Group and First Horizon announced that they have signed a definitive agreement for TD to acquire First Horizon in an all-cash transaction valued at $13.4 billion or $25 for each common share of First Horizon.
Through what it noted as a financially compelling transaction, TD said it is accelerating its long-term growth strategy in the United States by acquiring what it calls a “premier regional bank with an aligned culture and risk-management framework.”
The banks said the transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of TD’s 2023 fiscal year and is subject to customary closing conditions, including approvals from First Horizon’s shareholders and U.S. and Canadian regulatory authorities.
If the transaction does not close prior to Nov. 27, officials said First Horizon shareholders will receive, at closing, an additional $0.65 per share on an annualized basis for the period from Nov. 27 through the day immediately prior to the closing.
Officials added the transaction will terminate, unless otherwise extended, if it does not close by Feb. 27, 2023.
TD said it expects to use excess capital on its balance sheet for the transaction, “reflecting its robust capital and liquidity position.”
TD Bank Group president and chief executive officer Bharat Masrani said: “First Horizon is a great bank and a terrific strategic fit for TD. It provides TD with immediate presence and scale in highly attractive adjacent markets in the U.S. with significant opportunity for future growth across the Southeast.
“Working with the First Horizon team, TD will build upon the success of its strong franchise and deliver the legendary customer experiences that differentiate us in every market across our footprint,” Masrani continued.
Following the closing of the transaction, First Horizon president and chief executive officer Bryan Jordan will join TD as vice chair of TD Bank Group, reporting to Masrani and will join the TD senior executive Team. He will also be named to the boards of directors of TD’s U.S. banking entities as a director and chair.
The announcement indicated Jordan will continue to be based in Memphis, Tenn.
“We have built a very strong business at First Horizon, and by joining forces with TD, we will create extraordinary value for our key stakeholders with a shared customer-centric strategy, enhanced scale and a broader product set for our clients. This is a true growth story,” Jordan said. “We have long respected TD as a leader in U.S. banking and are confident that its continued and growing investments in our local markets will extend our long history of community support.
“Thank you to our First Horizon associates for their efforts and dedication to our clients and communities as we continue to deliver for them every day,” he continued. “We look forward to successfully completing this transaction and are excited to join TD.”
Masrani added: “I am very pleased that Bryan and talented leaders from across First Horizon will join TD. Their deep customer and community relationships and proven success driving growth will be of tremendous value as we integrate our teams and deliver for the millions we serve.”
On a pro forma basis excluding merger adjustments, the announcement highlighted TD’s U.S. franchise will be a top 6 U.S. bank, with approximately $614 billion in assets and a network of 1,560 stores, serving more than 10.7 million U.S. customers across 22 states.
First Horizon is headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., with assets of $89 billion as of Dec. 31. First Horizon operates 412 branches and serves more than 1.1 million consumer, business and commercial customers across 12 states.
TD said it will benefit from First Horizon’s strong regional presence, including leadership positions in Tennessee and Louisiana, additional density in Florida, the Carolinas and Virginia, and important footholds in the attractive Atlanta, Dallas and Houston markets.
“First Horizon and TD share a common belief that we can only thrive when the communities in which we live and work thrive. TD is committed to growing our presence and investments across the states in which First Horizon operates,” Masrani said.
The announcement also mentioned Leo Salom, group head of U.S. retail of TD Bank Group and president and CEO of TD Bank, will lead the combined businesses.
“I am excited to welcome First Horizon’s associates, leaders and valued customers to TD once the transaction closes. As one team, with complementary businesses, distribution channels and a shared culture of best-in-class customer service, we will chart the next phase of growth together,” Salom said.
“The Southeastern U.S. represents a tremendous opportunity for TD and the addition of First Horizon’s commercial and specialty banking capabilities will position us as a leading national player in commercial banking,” Salom continued. “We will combine our resources and capabilities and continue to invest in the region as we focus on delivering the most differentiated banking experience in our markets.”
TransUnion announced that it has completed the $638 million acquisition of Sontiq, a leader in digital identity protection and security.
TransUnion highlighted that Sontiq provides solutions including identity monitoring, restoration, and response products and services to empower consumers and businesses to proactively protect against identity theft and cyber threats.
The credit bureau also mentioned Sontiq’s focus on identity security complements TransUnion’s digital identity assets and solutions, and the combined company will offer a comprehensive set of omnichannel solutions to make trust possible for consumers and businesses.
“We’re pleased to complete this acquisition and look forward to beginning the integration of Sontiq into TransUnion,” TransUnion president and chief executive officer Chris Cartwright said.
“Bringing the Sontiq family of products into TransUnion’s portfolio creates a best-in-class identity protection and cyber security platform that advances our focus on digital safety and security, providing a comprehensive set of tools for consumers and businesses to transact with greater certainty,” Cartwright continued.
Sontiq’s intelligent identity security platform serves as the foundation of its identity theft and cyber threat protection solutions, which are delivered directly to consumers and indirectly through partners.
Sontiq’s identity security monitoring products incorporate TransUnion’s credit data and are highly complementary to TransUnion’s capabilities.
“The combination of TransUnion and Sontiq will result in a more comprehensive set of offerings that are expected to significantly increase growth opportunities for TransUnion,” the company said.
J.P. Morgan acted as exclusive M&A advisor to TransUnion and also acted as lead left financing arranger. Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC acted as joint arrangers for TransUnion. Loeb & Loeb LLP served as legal counsel to TransUnion.
Jefferies acted as lead financial advisor to Sontiq. DLA Piper served as legal counsel to Sontiq.
