AutoTrader Buys Kelly Blue Book (Kbb)
Just as the press was cooling down on the announcement of AutoTrader buys vAuto, AutoTrader.com turns around and has bought Kbb.com (Kelly Blue Blook). The rumors have been flying around for awhile now with several other companies/investors interested – including our beloved investors of Zag.com and TrueCar.
Cliff Banks over at Dealer Communications reports that in an exclusive interview with Dealer Communications and the Wall Street Journal, AutoTrader President and CEO Chip Perry and Kelley Blue Book President and CEO Paul Johnson talked about the background and the strategy for the deal.
Industry insiders estimate the deal was in the neighborhood of $550 – $600 million and is expected to close by the end of the year.
In September Kelly Blue Book made a bold move and dropped AutoTrader as it’s source of advertised dealer inventory and moved over to a Pay-Per-Lead model having it’s inventory powered by Vast.com. With this acquisition, it would only make sense to have Kbb.com’s inventory will once again be powered by AutoTrader. Of course I can’t imagine this being the only reason to buy Kbb.com.
What else does Kbb.com have that AutoTrader can find value in?
What will AutoTrader do with ALL this great data? 🙂
This industries landscape will continue to change, and in a fast way if people make the right/wrong decisions.