Today’s expected announcement of this $500 million-plus deal will combine two giants of Internet car shopping. The deal marries transaction focused Autotrader with research-centric KBB.
In what appears to be a continuation of Autotrader’s strategy of sewing up as much of the Internet-based car shopping process as possible, the Internet listing giant has recently completed the roll up of vAuto and now KBB.
Kelley Blue Book was started in 1926 by then former auto dealer Les Kelley. Kelley started a dealership in 1918 but soon became focused on his vehicle value listing service. The Kelley family has not been part of the company’s ownership since the 1960s and the article in today’s Wall Street Journal indicates that the last Kelley family employee retired in 2000.
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