CDK Global CEO Brian Krzanich steps down following Brookfield sale; Brian MacDonald named acting CEO

CDK Global Inc. CEO Brian Krzanich has resigned from the company following the completion of its sale last week to investment firm Brookfield Business Partners.

CDK said in a regulatory filing Tuesday that Krzanich, 62, notified the company last Wednesday that he would step down from his roles as president and CEO of the dealership technology giant based in Hoffman Estates, Ill., as of Monday, July 11. CDK said former CEO Brian MacDonald, who led the company from January 2016 to November 2018, took over the CEO role on an acting basis as of Monday.

“CDK is a mission-critical software platform for automotive commerce with a bright future, and I am excited about our path forward and accelerated growth,” MacDonald, 57, said in a statement Tuesday.

The change is among several executive-level changes CDK disclosed Tuesday in the regulatory filing.

As of Monday, Joe Tautges, 46, no longer serves as COO but remains with the company as a special adviser to the CEO. Amy Byrne, 51, chief human resources officer, will leave her role as of Friday, while CFO Eric Guerin, 51, will depart July 22.

CDK said in the filing that it “initiated certain organizational design and staffing changes to streamline operations and the reporting structure of the Company in order to improve operational delivery and performance.”

Before his earlier time at CDK, MacDonald was CEO of Hertz Rental Equipment Corp. and interim CEO of Hertz Corp. He also held roles with Sunoco, General Motors and Isuzu Motors. MacDonald has served on the board of Suncor Energy Inc. since July 2018.

“We are pleased to welcome Brian MacDonald, a respected executive with deep expertise in automotive retail, back to CDK,” Doug Bayerd, a director on CDK’s board, said in a statement. “He joins an experienced team to help enhance CDK’s value proposition for its customers.”

MacDonald will receive an annual base salary of $1 million, plus bonus and incentive benefits, according to the regulatory filing.

CDK last week completed its sale to Brookfield Business Partners — a unit of global alternative asset management firm Brookfield Asset Management’s private equity group — in a roughly $8.7 billion transaction. CDK’s stock is no longer publicly traded.