DealerTrack Holdings, Inc., which bills itself as the leading technology services company enabling finance transactions between automobile dealers and lenders, has raised more than $30 million in additional equity financing. According to the company, this investment round indicates strong investor support for DealerTrack’s multi-lender automotive finance platform.
“DealerTrack has successfully leveraged its lender relationships to sign over 14,000 dealers on to the DealerTrack system and we expect this growth to continue following this financing,” said Mark O’Neil, president and CEO of DealerTrack. “Working capital from this offering will be used to launch an exciting slate of new products and to complete the connection of more than 20 lenders to the DealerTrack system in 2002.”
The financing will also be used to grow DealerTrack’s sales force, expand marketing efforts and to enhance existing products, according to the company.
New investors in DealerTrack include affiliates of Capital One Financial Corp., GRP Partners, Wells Fargo Financial, Inc. and WFS Financial, Inc. Several existing investors, which include affiliates of AmeriCredit Corp., Automotive Lease Guide (ALG), LLC and JP Morgan Chase & Co., also participated in this financing round. Robertson Stephens, Inc. acted as the sole placement agent for this financing.
"Given the very challenging investment environment we are pleased with our success in completing a significant round of financing," O'Neill said. "Our achievement in raising this round of money clearly reinforces our belief that DealerTrack is the best lender and dealer finance platform in the market.”
“We are pleased to have our strategic partners Capital One, Wells Fargo Financial and WFS Financial join DealerTrack as investors,” O’Neil said. “The continued support of these companies will help DealerTrack to expand the penetration of our existing products and will assist in the successful launch of new product lines. We are also proud to add GRP Partners as our first venture capital investor. GRP brings both capital and industry expertise, and their investment validates our business model and is a testament to our success to date.”
DealerTrack’s strategy is to partner with financial institutions to provide automobile dealers with the value and convenience of a single financial "hub."
DealerTrack’s current product suite includes PaymentTrack, a lease desking comparison tool, electronic credit application processing and on-line credit bureau reports. In the near future, DealerTrack will further expand the product suite to include electronic contracting, which will enable automobile dealers to eliminate contracts in transit and will allow lenders to book retail installment contracts completely online.
About DealerTrack
DealerTrack Holdings, Inc., through its wholly-owned subsidiary, DealerTrack.com, Inc., is a technology services company designed to provide impartial end-to-end loan and lease transaction processing for lenders and dealer to improve efficiencies and profitability.
DealerTrack says its technology aggregates and automates credit processes, speeds lending communications and improves transaction efficiency through the use of the Internet.
More than 14,000 dealerships nationwide currently use the DealerTrack system to electronically interact with their finance providers.
The investor group backing DealerTrack includes affiliates of AmeriCredit Corp., Automotive Lease Guide (ALG), LLC, Capital One Financial Corp., GRP Partners, JP Morgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Company, Wells Fargo Financial, Inc. (a nonprime finance subsidiary of Wells Fargo & Company), and WFS Financial, Inc.
DealerTrack is based in Melville, N.Y.
For more information, visit www.dealertrack.com.
