CarGurus (Nasdaq: CARG), a leading global online automotive marketplace, announced it has completed the acquisition of a 51% interest in CarOffer, with the ability to buy the remaining equity interest in the company over the next three years.
The acquisition adds wholesale vehicle acquisition and selling capabilities to CarGurus’ portfolio of dealer offerings. CarOffer was founded by auto industry veteran, Bruce Thompson, who will continue to lead the CarOffer brand and team from their Plano, Texas location.
Commenting on the completion of the acquisition, CarGurus Chief Financial Officer Jason Trevisan said the company is thrilled to welcome the CarOffer team to the CarGurus family and excited to join forces to drive further innovation and value for our customers.
“Digital wholesale creates exciting new opportunities for efficiencies in the marketplace, especially as more of the automotive buying journey shifts online. By combining CarGurus and CarOffer capabilities, we can deliver a powerful new solution for dealers to buy and sell the right inventory at the right price. We believe this will not only be a win for dealers, but for consumers as well,” said Jason Trevisan
CarOffer founder and CEO Bruce Thompson said he is incredibly proud of what the CarOffer team has accomplished so far, and he can’t wait to begin this next phase of growth in partnership with a company as pioneering as CarGurus.
“We see tremendous potential in this combination, and we look forward to getting to work integrating our capabilities and continuing to build better solutions for dealers,” said Bruce Thompson.
CarGurus is the largest automotive marketplace in the United States, with more visitors and more inventory than any other major online automotive marketplace. The company also has the largest dealer network in the US, with roughly 24,000 subscribed dealers.
With this acquisition, the company plans to expand dealer participation on the CarOffer platform, thereby increasing inventory supply on the sell-side and liquidity on the buy-side. CarGurus will also integrate its Instant Market Value retail valuation data to help dealers price vehicles on CarOffer, and will use the CarOffer Buying Matrix™ to make real-time offers to dealers on their CarGurus inventory.
Unlike traditional vehicle auctions which require manual bidding and vehicle evaluation, CarOffer’s proprietary Buying Matrix technology enables buying dealers to create standing buy orders and provides instant offers to selling dealers.
Since its 2019 launch, the company has experienced substantial growth, with more than 2,5004 dealership rooftops installed. The company processed over $350 million in merchandise and service transactions in the third quarter of 2020.
CarGurus: Founded in 2006, CarGurus (Nasdaq: CARG) is a global online automotive marketplace connecting buyers and sellers of new and used cars. The company uses proprietary technology, search algorithms and data analytics to bring trust and transparency to the automotive search experience and help users find great deals from top-rated dealers.
CarGurus is the most visited automotive shopping site in the U.S. (source: Comscore Media Metrix® Multi-Platform, Automotive – Information/Resources, Total Audience, Q3 2020, U.S. (Competitive set includes: CarGurus.com, Autotrader.com, Cars.com, TrueCar.com)). In addition to the United States, CarGurus operates online marketplaces in Canada and the United Kingdom. In the United States and the United Kingdom, CarGurus also operates the Autolist and PistonHeads online marketplaces, respectively, as independent brands.
