Privately held Reynolds and Reynolds bought retail technology provider Gubagoo, of Boca Raton, Fla., in a deal that closed in June, less than two weeks after CDK’s acquisition of Roadster. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Reynolds, of Dayton, Ohio, saw Gubagoo as a way to expand into products that Reynolds previously had not brought to market, and also as an expansion of its Retail Anywhere strategy, executives said in June. Retail Anywhere aims to give dealerships the ability to work with customers whether they’re shopping online, in person or both.
Gubagoo specializes in conversational and digital retailing tools, and its technology is behind Asbury Automotive Group’s omnichannel retailing platform, Clicklane, which launched in late 2020. Gubagoo works with more than 6,500 dealerships, more than 5,000 of them U.S. franchised dealerships.
Kasi Edwards, Reynolds’ senior vice president of marketing, said in June that the company liked Gubagoo because of its product innovation, growth, employees and vision. Gubagoo founder and CEO Brad Title will run the operation as its president under an independent brand within Reynolds.
At the same time, Reynolds is overhauling its business in an effort to improve its reputation with dealerships and attract new customers.
