LOS ANGELES (April 30, 2019)—MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands, a KKR portfolio company, today announced that it has reached an agreement with Thoma Bravo, LLC, a leading private equity investment firm, under which Thoma Bravo will acquire Internet Brands’ Autodata Solutions Group.
Terms of the transaction were not made public, and the closing is expected to be completed within the coming weeks, subject to customary closing conditions. Following the transaction, the Autodata Solutions management team will remain intact and will continue to operate from its headquarters in London, Ontario, Canada and Troy, Michigan, with offices in Portland, Oregon, Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
“I’m thrilled to be leading Autodata Solutions as we begin our new partnership with Thoma Bravo,” said Craig Jennings, President of Autodata Solutions. “The Autodata Solutions story is amazing; starting with a small core group of executives that built the business, to an organization that today has more than 700 employees. We have grown rapidly over three decades and all the while serving the most prestigious brands and partners in the automotive industry.”
“I’d like to thank Internet Brands for their support over the past 20 years,” added Jennings. “I speak on behalf of all Autodata Solutions employees when I express how excited we are as we look forward to our next phase of accelerated growth.”
“Over the last five years, we have worked with the Internet Brands and Autodata Solutions management teams to build a leading automotive software and market services platform by maintaining Autodata’s product edge through organic and inorganic investments,” said KKR Members Herald Chen and John Park. “We are confident it will retain this positive trajectory and track record of innovation under Thoma Bravo’s ownership.”
“As technological innovation drives massive change within the automotive industry, we believe Autodata Solutions Group is well positioned to be at the forefront of that future,” said Scott Crabill, a Managing Partner at Thoma Bravo. “Our operational knowledge within the software industry and ability to leverage resources can only enhance the company’s unique data-driven solutions and interactive marketing initiatives.”
RBC Capital Markets is serving as the exclusive financial advisor to Internet Brands, and Simpson Thatcher is serving as the legal advisor to Internet Brands. Kirkland & Ellis is serving as the legal advisor to Thoma Bravo. Financing for the transaction is being provided by RBC Capital Markets and KKR Capital Markets LLC.
The Autodata Solutions Group serves the global automotive industry with versatile data, technology, and marketing solutions. Founded in 1990, the company is headquartered in London, Ontario, Canada and has offices in Troy Michigan, Portland, Oregon and Minneapolis, Minnesota. Autodata Solutions, along with its Chrome Data and UnityWorks brands, serves the automotive industry with software and SaaS solutions that increase the effectiveness of the automotive sales chain. For more information, visit www.autodata.net.
Headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., Internet Brands® is a fully integrated online media and software services organization focused on four high-value vertical categories: Automotive, Legal, Health, and Home/Travel. The company's award-winning consumer websites lead their categories and serve more than 250 million monthly visitors, while a full range of web presence offerings has established deep, long-term relationships with SMB and enterprise clients. Internet Brands' powerful, proprietary operating platform provides the flexibility and scalability to fuel the company's continued growth. Internet Brands is a portfolio company of KKR and Temasek. For more information, visit www.internetbrands.com.
Thoma Bravo is a leading private equity firm focused on the software and technology-enabled services sectors. With a series of funds representing more than $30 billion in capital commitments, Thoma Bravo partners with a company’s management team to implement operating best practices, invest in growth initiatives and make accretive acquisitions intended to accelerate revenue and earnings, with the goal of increasing the value of the business. Representative past and present portfolio companies include industry leaders such as ABC Financial, Blue Coat Systems, Deltek, Digital Insight, Frontline Education, Global Healthcare Exchange, Hyland Software, Imprivata, iPipeline, PowerPlan, Qlik, Riverbed, SailPoint, SolarWinds, SonicWall, Sparta Systems, TravelClick and Veracode. The firm has offices in San Francisco and Chicago. For more information, visit www.thomabravo.com.
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Media Contacts
Joe Ewaskiw, Internet Brands
(310) 280-4539
joe.ewaskiw@internetbrands.com
For Thoma Bravo:
Matthew Gorton, Hiltzik Strategies
212-776-1161
mgorton@hstrategies.com
Read the press release on the Internet Brands website here.