Great Hill Partners has entered into a definitive agreement to sell DealerRater to Cars.com, a TEGNA Inc. (NYSE: TGNA) company. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions and is expected to close by the end of August. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
DealerRater provides a critical point of connection between consumers and auto dealerships, pioneering the category of auto dealer review and online reputation management software, with over 2.5 million consumer reviews collected to date.
Mark Taber, Managing Partner at Great Hill Partners, said “We are proud to have partnered with management at DealerRater to help build one of the leaders in automotive reputation management. We believe this combination will further enhance the experience for both consumers and dealers.”
DealerRater received a majority growth investment from Great Hill Partners, a leading middle-market growth oriented private equity firm, in October 2013 to help accelerate product development and expand sales and marketing resources. Since that time, the Company has significantly enhanced its market position with innovative products and content partnerships.
“We are excited to be joining the Cars.com family and want to thank Great Hill Partners for their support in reaching this important milestone.” said Gary Tucker, CEO of DealerRater. “As our first institutional investor, Great Hill Partners provided a strong growth orientation and invaluable leadership helping us to deliver this successful outcome for our shareholders, employees, and customers.”
About Great Hill Partners
Great Hill Partners is a Boston-based private equity firm that has raised $3.8 billion in commitments since inception to finance the expansion, recapitalization or acquisition of growth companies in a wide range of sectors within the business and consumer services, healthcare, media, communications and software industries. Great Hill targets investments of $25 million to $150 million. For more information, visit www.greathillpartners.com.
About DealerRater
Founded in 2002, DealerRater is the world’s leading car dealer review website that connects consumers with the right person at the right dealership. The site offers more than 2.5 million sales and service reviews across 41,000 U.S. and Canadian dealerships, including a network of more than 5, 600 Certified Dealers. More than 14 million consumers read DealerRater content across the web each month. By offering a product suite that allows qualified dealerships to manage their reputations and achieve higher SEO rankings, DealerRater supports new customer connections by growing online presence.
