Reynolds and Reynolds Exploring Possible Private Sale?

[Jeff Kershner]

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[Jim Bell (blog)]

I have been saying over a year that a DMS was the big missing piece for Autotrader. I'm putting my money on ATC.

 

[guest47]

We have also heard from top guy at AT that they are pursuing this.  AT couldn't fetch the strike price they were hoping for which is why they pulled their IPO filing a few months ago.  This move would be more than what they need, but will accomplish what they are perusing.   
 
I don't think Bockman will get $5 Billion and AT WOULD BE CRAZY TO PAY THAT, but if it goes through, I would guess it would create a major arms race for the big companies consolidating many smaller/mid-sized vendors in the auto industry.  (Which will ultimately fail, in my opinion, because innovation is driven by the entrepreneur in this county and not the bloated conglomerates.) 
 
*Autotrader.com generated $1.1 billion in sales, $335 million in adjusted EBITDA and $62 million in net income Read more: http://community.nasdaq.com/News/20...books-debut.aspx?storyid=149060#ixzz2AnQyH2e5
 
*The company (Reynolds) has over $500 million in annual earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) and could be valued at around 10 times EBITDA, two of the sources said.

 

[KevinFrye (blog)]

I can only hope that if Reynolds is acquired, it will be significantly updated and improved, as well as become more customer friendly.
 
Perhaps someone can rebuild it. Make it bigger... stronger... faster...  but not cost six million dollars per year...

 

[Alex Snyder (blog)]

Sounds like he has some players at the table and is stirring the negotiation pot.  $5B is 10 roughly 10 times the estimated value of RR.  It actually isn't as aggressive as what other tech companies have been fetching outside the automotive space recently.