Solera and DealerSocket both were portfolio companies of private equity firm Vista Equity Partners before Solera acquired DealerSocket. Vista bought a stake in DealerSocket in 2014, and according to Vista’s website, a Vista fund took Solera private in 2016.
In June 2021, Solera acquired DealerSocket and Omnitracs, which provides fleet management software. It added Spireon, which provides aftermarket telematics tools, in March.
Bloomberg last year reported that Vista Equity Partners was considering taking Solera public through a special-purpose acquisition company before the deal was halted. The Solera spokeswoman said via email this month that “Solera has a longstanding policy not to comment on market rumors or speculation.”
Solera eliminated an unspecified number of positions following its acquisition of DealerSocket.
The spokeswoman said that “there was a period of restructuring and changes within the organization. While there were positions that were consolidated, there were also many more created since that acquisition.”
The company says it has more than 7,000 employees today. Solera did not break out the number of employees in its dealership technology business.
Cairo said Solera has more than $2.5 billion in revenue, though the company did not break out revenue for the dealership business.
Solera says it has more than 20,000 franchised and independent dealership customers, but it did not say what percentage are franchised stores.