By Mike Scarcella
Jan 28 (Reuters) - Automotive technology giant CDK Global has agreed to pay $630 million to settle antitrust claims that it caused hundreds of software vendors to overpay for vehicle dealership data by restricting access.
The proposed settlement, filed on Monday night in a federal court in Madison, Wisconsin, requires a judge's approval.
The company denied any wrongdoing in agreeing to settle.
Austin, Texas-based CDK, owned by Brookfield Business Partners BBU.N, sells software platforms auto dealers use to run their daily sales, financing and service operations.
Tech vendor AutoLoop and other companies included in the settlement create apps for the dealers' management systems for inventory management, repair orders, warranty services and other functions.
AutoLoop sued CDK in 2018, accusing it of cutting off access to auto dealer systems and driving up prices vendors pay to access data for their apps. A judge certified the case as a class action in July.
CDK and lawyers for the company did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The vendors had indicated they would seek damages of $490 million at a trial previously scheduled for this week. A jury award could have been tripled under antitrust law.
The vendors who brought the class action include 243 companies that purchased data integration services since October 2013 from CDK or one of its rivals, Reynolds & Reynolds, which is not a defendant.
Lawyers for AutoLoop and other members of the class action at Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick called the settlement "extraordinary" in a statement and said it stemmed from "years of hard-fought litigation." They said they would ask the court for about $200 million in legal fees.
CDK agreed to pay $100 million in August to settle a class action by U.S. auto dealerships claiming they overpaid for the company’s dealer management systems.
Automotive tech company CDK sued by rival Tekion over dealer systems https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/automotive-tech-company-cdk-sued-by-rival-tekion-over-dealer-systems-2024-12-10/
Auto tech company CDK settles dealers’ antitrust lawsuit for $100 mln https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/auto-tech-company-cdk-settles-dealers-antitrust-lawsuit-100-mln-2024-08-16/
Automotive tech company CDK must face antitrust class action, judge says https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/automotive-tech-company-cdk-must-face-antitrust-class-action-judge-says-2024-07-24/
(Reporting by Mike Scarcella; Editing by David Bario and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
((Mike.Scarcella@thomsonreuters.com;))
免責聲明:投資有風險,本文並非投資建議,以上內容不應被視為任何金融產品的購買或出售要約、建議或邀請,作者或其他用戶的任何相關討論、評論或帖子也不應被視為此類內容。本文僅供一般參考,不考慮您的個人投資目標、財務狀況或需求。TTM對信息的準確性和完整性不承擔任何責任或保證,投資者應自行研究並在投資前尋求專業建議。