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CDK Global Inc. has completed its sale to investment firm Brookfield Business Partners, the companies confirmed.
The dealership technology company, of Hoffman Estates, Ill., said in a regulatory filing that Brookfield’s acquisition of CDK was completed Wednesday, with a price tag of roughly $8.7 billion “without giving effect to related transaction fees and expenses.”
CDK in April said it agreed to be acquired by Brookfield Business Partners — a unit of global alternative asset management firm Brookfield Asset Management’s private equity group — with CDK shareholders receiving $54.87 per share in cash. That price would reflect a 30 percent premium to CDK’s closing share price on Feb. 18, which the company said was the last full day of trading before market speculation began about a possible sale.
CDK’s stock no longer will be publicly traded. The company said in its regulatory filing that it notified the Nasdaq exchange of the transaction and requested that trading of its stock be suspended before the market opened Wednesday.
A CDK spokesman confirmed that the deal was final but didn’t provide comment from CDK leaders or make them available for interviews Wednesday. A Brookfield spokesman confirmed the completion of the deal and referred Automotive News to comments from April when the acquisition was announced.
Brookfield in April described CDK as attractive for its market leadership; its recurring, subscription-based revenue streams; and what it called “meaningful opportunities” to improve CDK’s value.
“We are excited to grow our technology footprint with the acquisition of CDK Global, and we look forward to leveraging our operating capabilities to build on the Company’s track record of providing best-in-class customer service and innovation,” Doug Bayerd, Brookfield Business Partners’ managing director, said in a statement at the time.
CDK’s board of directors, including company CEO Brian Krzanich, resigned from their board posts when the transaction was completed, according to the regulatory filing. It was not immediately clear whether Krzanich and other CDK executives would continue in their roles leading the company, though the filing said “the officers of the Company immediately prior to the Effective Time will remain as officers” post-acquisition.
CDK COO Joe Tautges told Automotive News in April that Brookfield shares CDK’s interest in technology innovation.
In an April letter to CDK’s dealership customers shared in an earlier regulatory filing, Krzanich and Tautges wrote that “as a private company, we will have greater agility to invest in innovation and pursue our long-term vision to connect our industry at every level and create an open and collaborative future. With Brookfield we will have the support, resources and insights to help accelerate our growth and more importantly to provide you, our customers, with even more innovative products and services to help you better serve your customers today and tomorrow.”
CDK has broadened its product portfolio beyond its core dealership management system business, which had 9,181 automotive customer sites as of Dec. 31, the most recent publicly available figure. Its dealership software tools include the Elead customer relationship management system, digital retailing provider Roadster and Salty Dot Inc., an insurance technology company that allows consumers to buy auto insurance at the same time they buy a vehicle.
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