Digital connected cars and the recycler
By Tanvir Arfi, Managing Director of Solera Holdings Dallas, Texas — December 21, 2016 — We’re used to change in the automotive recycling industry, but everything we’ve seen indicates that the rate of change itself is accelerating. Even a brief overview of some of the most obvious trends will show this to be the case. […]
Advanced technology and the need for training under discussion at IBIS 2016
Barcelona, Spain — May 25, 2016 — Training, advanced driver systems and the power of technology were all under discussion at the second day of the International Bodyshop Industry Symposium (IBIS). The event, taking place at Hilton Diagonal Mar in Barcelona, Spain, concluded on May 25. Collision Repair magazine is the exclusive Canadian Media Partner […]
Vista Equity completes acquisition of Solera
Westlake, Texas — March 7, 2016 — Solera Holdings has been acquired by an affiliate of Vista Equity Partners. Other key investors include an affiliate of Koch Equity Development. Solera produces data and software solutions focused on insurance claims, including Audatex and AudaExplore. The deal closed with a purchase price of $6.5 billion US, or […]
Shareholders OK $6.5 billion Solera sale
By Jeff Sanford Toronto, Ontario — December 9, 2015 — Shareholders overwhelmingly accepted the $6.5 billion that Vista Equity Partners had offered for outstanding shares of software provider, Solera. The vote was described as a “landslide” in favour of the deal. And no wonder, Vista’s final offer of $6.5 billion was nearly double an August […]
Solera integrates parts procurement solutions to form InPart
Westlake, Texas — November 11, 2015 — Solera Holdings has announced the integration of its parts procurement solutions, including Distribution Service Technologies (“DST”) and APU Solutions (“APU”), to form InPart. Through InPart, Solera will enable online parts procurement from the industry’s largest network of suppliers directly within the existing systems and workflow of collision and […]
Solera rolls-out announcements in wake of sale
By Jeff Sanford Toronto, Ontario — November 6, 2015 — This past August major industry software manufacturer Solera was taken over by private-equity firm Vista Equity Partners. Since then brokerages have downgraded the stock. Presumably, investor interest in the stock has faded a bit now that the sale is out of the way. Activist investors […]
Financial roundup: Ups and downs for collision repair companies
By Jeff Sanford Toronto, Ontario — October 19, 2015 — Publicly traded companies in the collision repair space are getting ready to announce results for the third quarter of 2015. Let’s hope the results are better than stocks in the wider market. The earnings haven’t been good at some major consumer-based companies. Many assumed that […]
Audatex parent Solera sold to Vista Equity
By Jeff Sanford Toronto, Ontario — September 15, 2015 — After several weeks of rumours and anticipation the sale of AudaExplore/Audatex parent company Solera has been announced. Vista Equity will pay a mighty $6.5 billion for the company. The deal is not unexpected. Executives at Solera recently voted to award bonus packages to convince executives […]
Friday Fun: Bids surface for Solera, yea and nay on driverless cars and artist Man Ray’s collision connection
By Jeff Sanford Toronto, Ontario — September 10, 2014 — Interesting bits and pieces from the week that was: – Bloomberg news published a report this week suggetsing bids are surfacing for Solera. This is the parent company of AudaExplore/Audatex. The bids are said to value the company at $3.6 billion. “A winner could be […]
Solera reports financials as sale rumours pick-up
By Jeff Sanford Toronto, Ontario — August 26, 2015 — Solera Holdings released results for the fourth quarter this week. The company provides software to the automobile-claims-processing industry and is the owner of Audatex. The company reported that revenue grew to $297 million this year from $268 million in the same period last year. […]