Editor’s note: This story was updated at 1:44 p.m.
[T]he Burlington headquarters of Dealer.com will become part of a privately held international company when its parent company is bought out for $4 billion this year.
Cox Automotive will pay about $63.25 per share in cash for the publicly traded company Dealertrack Technologies, which bought Dealer.com in December 2013 for nearly $1 billion.
Cox Automotive is an international digital marketing company and operates under brands such as Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book. The company has about 24,000 employees and is based in Atlanta. The acquisition will be completed between July and October.
“All of our plans for Burlington are unchanged, and we will continue to grow here business as usual,” said Alison Von Puschendorf, a spokesperson for Dealer.com, which is now headquartered in two buildings on Pine Street.
Von Puschendorf said there would be “no immediate changes” to the company’s branding. “I’m sure that’s one of the many things that will be sorted out after the deal closes,” she said.
Dealer.com was created during the dot-com boom in the late 1990s, when Mike Lane, Rick Gibbs, Ryan Dunn and Jamie LaScolea talked over burgers about how to use the Internet to help sell cars.
When Dealertrack bought the company a year and a half ago, Dealer.com had 7,000 clients nationwide and 830 employees, including a location in Manhattan Beach, California. The company now has 903 workers in Burlington, according to Von Puschendorf.
Sandy Schwartz, president of Cox Automotive, framed the acquisition as a great deal for the auto industry and Cox Automotive’s customers. Schwartz also applauded Mark O’Neil, the chair of the board of directors and CEO of Dealertrack, which is based in Lake Success, New York.
“We have long admired the Dealertrack team and its highly respected brands,” Schwartz said in a joint news release. “Integrating our platforms will be a big step forward in our shared vision of providing open, cost-effective and efficient solutions for dealers, lenders, manufacturers and consumers.”
Dealertrack’s stock closed Friday at just under $40 per share. It shot up to just under $63 per share Monday morning following the announcement from management that it would be sold.
Mark O’Neil said in a news release that Cox Automotive would “fully unlock the potential” of the company’s brands and serve clients.
“Dealertrack team members have been a critical element in the tremendous success our company has achieved, and I want to thank all of our team members as we move forward into this exciting new chapter of growth,” O’Neil said.
“This transaction provides our stockholders with the opportunity to tender their shares at a price that recognizes the superior value of Dealertrack’s industry partnerships, solutions, technology, financial management and international industry position,” he said.
As part of the $4 billion cash deal, Citigroup Global Markets will loan Cox Automotive $1.85 billion through a bank loan, according to the statement. Another $750 million will come from BDT Capital Partners.
