United States v. Cox Enterprises, Inc. et al.; Proposed Final Judgment and Competitive Impact Statement, 61454-61469 [2015-26042]
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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 197 / Tuesday, October 13, 2015 / Notices
to GRSG in PHMA, the areas of highest
importance for the species, the BLM is
implement a structure whereby it will
seek the input of local and national
experts on GRSG—the FWS and the
Utah Division of Wildlife Resources—
before making decisions regarding
whether to grant an exception to an
NSO Stipulation to allow surfacedisturbing fluid mineral development.
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Inconsistency With State Law School
Trust Land Obligations
The appeal letter requests that I (BLM
Director) reconsider the decision of the
Acting Utah State Director related to
land tenure adjustments involving lands
owned and managed by the School and
Institutional Trust Lands
Administration. I have reviewed the
response, as well as the clarifying
language that we have added to the
amendment in response to your
consistency review letter, which allows
for disposal or exchange if there is a net
conservation gain or no direct or
indirect adverse impact to GRSG and its
habitat. I believe that the state trust land
exchanges and selections can be
completed under this management
direction and assure you that we will
work with the State of Utah to complete
such actions as appropriate. Therefore,
I respectfully deny your (Governor’s)
appeal on this issue and uphold the
Acting Utah State Director’s
determination that your
recommendation is inconsistent with
the goal of the BLM’s GRSG
conservation strategy range-wide.
Management of Habitat Outside of
PHMA
The State of Utah has recommended
that the BLM eliminate the management
actions in its plans for areas outside of
PHMA. After having reviewed the
information provided with your
recommendation, I (BLM Director)
respectfully deny your (Governor’s)
appeal and uphold the decision of the
Acting Utah State Director that your
recommendation is inconsistent with
the goal of the BLM’s GRSG range-wide
conservation strategy. GHMA provides
important connectivity and restoration
areas and its protection is an essential
aspect of the BLM’s GRSG conservation
strategy. Additionally, as stated above,
the PLUPA amendment already
incorporates additional flexibility for
GHMA in the state of Utah because of
the limited number of birds in GHMA.
SFA Exemption
In your (Governor’s) appeal letter, you
request that I (BLM Director) reconsider
the request to exempt Utah from SFAs.
I have reviewed your prior comments on
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the development of the SFAs and while
I understand these concerns, I uphold
the determination of the Acting Utah
State Director, that the SFAs are
consistent with the BLM’s range-wide
GRSG conservation strategy. I also want
to reiterate that the SFAs are a subset of
PHMA, with limited additional
management actions to ensure that the
‘‘best of the best’’ receives the attention
it deserves. In addition to the
recommended mineral withdrawal and
the fluid mineral NSO stipulation
without waivers, exceptions, or
modifications, these areas will be
prioritized for vegetation management,
review of livestock grazing permits and
leases, habitat restoration, and fire and
fuels actions. Therefore, I respectfully
deny your (Governor’s) appeal on this
issue and uphold the Acting Utah State
Director’s determination that your
recommendation is inconsistent with
the goal of the BLM’s range-wide GRSG
conservation strategy range-wide.
Authority: 43 CFR 1610.3–2(e).
Byron Loosle,
Acting Assistant Director, Renewable
Resources & Planning.
[FR Doc. 2015–25973 Filed 10–9–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Patricia A. Brink,
Director of Civil Enforcement.
Antitrust Division
United States v. Cox Enterprises, Inc.
et al.; Proposed Final Judgment and
Competitive Impact Statement
Notice is hereby given pursuant to the
Antitrust Procedures and Penalties Act,
15 U.S.C. 16(b)–(h), that a proposed
Final Judgment, Hold Separate
Stipulation and Order, and Competitive
Impact Statement have been filed with
the United States District Court for the
District of Columbia in United States of
America v. Cox Enterprises, Inc., et al.,
Civil Action No. 1:15-cv-01583 (TFH).
On September 29, 2015, the United
States filed a Complaint alleging that
Cox Automotive’s proposed acquisition
of Dealertrack Technologies, Inc.’s
automobile dealership inventory
management solution (IMS) business
would violate Section 7 of the Clayton
Act, 15 U.S.C. § 18. The proposed Final
Judgment, filed at the same time as the
Complaint, requires Defendants to
divest Dealertrack’s IMS business to
DealerSocket, Inc. or to another buyer
approved by the United States. The
proposed Final Judgment also: (1)
Requires Defendants to enable the
continuing exchange of data and content
between the divested IMS business and
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other data sources, Internet sites, and
automotive solutions that they control;
and (2) prevents Defendants from
unreasonably using their ownership
interest in Chrome Data Solutions, LP,
a company that compiles and licenses
vehicle information data used by IMSs
and other solutions and Web sites.
Copies of the Complaint, proposed
Final Judgment, and Competitive Impact
Statement are available for inspection
on the Antitrust Division’s Web site at
https://www.justice.gov/atr and at the
Office of the Clerk of the United States
District Court for the District of
Columbia. Copies of these materials may
be obtained from the Antitrust Division
upon request and payment of the
copying fee set by Department of Justice
regulations.
Public comment is invited within 60
days of the date of this notice. Such
comments, including the name of the
submitter, and responses thereto, will be
posted on the Antitrust Division’s Web
site, filed with the Court, and, under
certain circumstances, published in the
Federal Register. Comments should be
directed to James J. Tierney, Chief,
Networks &Technology Enforcement
Section, Antitrust Division, Department
of Justice, 450 Fifth Street NW., Suite
7100, Washington, DC 0530 (telephone:
202–307–6200).
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT
COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, U.S.
Department of Justice, Antitrust
Division, 450 Fifth Street NW., Suite
7100, Washington, DC 20530, Plaintiff,
v. COX ENTERPRISES, INC., 6205
Peachtree Dunwoody Road, Atlanta, GA
30328, COX AUTOMOTIVE, INC., 3003
Summit Blvd., Suite 200, Atlanta, GA
30319, and DEALERTRACK
TECHNOLOGIES, INC., 1111 Marcus
Ave, Suite M04, Lake Success, NY
11042,Defendants.
Case No. 1:15–cv–01583
Judge: Thomas F. Hogan
Description: Antitrust
Filed: September 29, 2015
COMPLAINT
The United States of America, acting
under the direction of the Attorney
General of the United States, brings this
civil action to enjoin the proposed
acquisition by Defendants Cox
Enterprises, Inc. and Cox Automotive,
Inc. (collectively, ‘‘Cox’’) of Defendant
Dealertrack Technologies, Inc.
(‘‘Dealertrack’’). The United States
alleges as follows:
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I. NATURE OF THE ACTION
1. Cox intends to acquire all of the
outstanding shares of common stock of
Dealertrack through a cash tender offer
totaling approximately $4 billion. Cox
and Dealertrack are both leading
providers of automated solutions and
marketing services to the automotive
industry, and are significant direct
competitors in the development,
marketing, and sale of inventory
management solutions (‘‘IMSs’’) to
automotive dealerships in the United
States.
2. Cox and Dealertrack are the two
leading providers of full-featured IMSs
that are employed primarily for
inventory management in the used
vehicle businesses of larger automotive
dealerships, particularly those that
operate franchises associated with new
vehicle original equipment
manufacturers (‘‘OEMs’’). The IMSs of
Cox and Dealertrack participate in a
market with only four significant
competitors. The two firms compete
head-to-head in the development,
marketing, and sale of their respective
IMSs. Cox’s proposed acquisition of
Dealertrack would eliminate this
competition, resulting in higher prices
and lower quality for dealership
consumers.
3. Accordingly, the transaction is
likely to substantially lessen
competition in the provision of fullfeatured IMSs in the United States, in
violation of Section 7 of the Clayton
Act, 15 U.S.C. § 18, and should be
enjoined.
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II. JURISDICTION, VENUE, AND
INTERSTATE COMMERCE
4. The United States brings this action
under Section 15 of the Clayton Act, 15
U.S.C. § 25, to prevent and restrain
Defendants from violating Section 7 of
the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. § 18. This
Court has subject-matter jurisdiction
over this action under Section 15 of the
Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. § 25, and 28
U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1337(a), and 1345.
5. Defendants market, sell, operate,
and service their products, including
their IMSs, throughout the United States
and regularly and continuously transact
business and transmit data in
connection with these activities in the
flow of interstate commerce, which has
a substantial effect upon interstate
commerce.
6. Defendants consent to personal
jurisdiction and venue in this district.
This Court has personal jurisdiction
over each Defendant and venue is
proper under Section 12 of the Clayton
Act, 15 U.S.C. § 22, and 28 U.S.C.
§ 1391(b) and (c).
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III. DEFENDANTS AND THE
PROPOSED ACQUISITION
7. Cox Enterprises, Inc., and its
subsidiary, Cox Automotive, Inc., are
both Delaware corporations
headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Cox
develops and sells a diverse portfolio of
automated solutions and services for
automotive dealers and consumers,
including vAuto, a full-featured IMS.
The total annual net revenue of Cox’s
automotive businesses in 2014 was
approximately $4.9 billion. Its U.S. IMS
revenue was a relatively small part of its
total revenue.
8. Dealertrack Technologies, Inc. is a
Delaware corporation headquartered in
Lake Success, New York. Dealertrack
develops and sells a variety of
automated solutions and services for
automotive dealers, including
Inventory+, a full-featured IMS that
combines the functionality from two
IMSs that Dealertrack acquired—AAX
and eCarList. Dealertrack’s total annual
net revenue in 2014 was approximately
$854 million. Its U.S. IMS revenue was
a relatively small part of its total
revenue. Dealertrack also owns a 50%
interest in Chrome Data Solutions, LP
(‘‘Chrome’’), a company that compiles
and licenses vehicle information data.
The remaining 50% interest in Chrome
is owned by Autodata Solutions, Inc.
and Autodata Solutions Company
(collectively, ‘‘Autodata’’).
9. On June 12, 2015, Cox Automotive
and Dealertrack entered into an
Agreement and Plan of Merger whereby
Cox agreed to commence a cash tender
offer to acquire all of the outstanding
shares of Dealertrack for $63.25 per
share, for a total of approximately $4
billion.
IV. THE RELEVANT MARKET
A. Industry Background
10. In the United States, new and
used vehicles are typically sold to
consumers through automotive
dealerships. A dealership may be
‘‘franchised,’’ meaning it is associated
with an OEM, or ‘‘independent’’ of any
association with an OEM. New vehicles
are acquired by franchised dealers
directly from OEMs and resold to
consumers. Used vehicles are purchased
or otherwise acquired (often through
trade-ins) by franchised or independent
dealers and then sold to consumers or
at wholesale (often at auction). A dealer
may have more than one physical store
(or ‘‘rooftop’’) and franchised dealers
may be associated with more than one
OEM. The type of automated products
and services that a dealer uses to
manage its business often depends on
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its size, its level of sophistication, and
whether it is franchised or independent.
11. Most franchised and larger
independent dealers rely on dealer
management systems (‘‘DMSs’’) to
manage the primary functions of their
businesses, including sales, finance,
accounting, service, parts, and
personnel. The DMS is the central
repository for a large amount of data
about the dealer’s day-to-day business
activities. IMSs are a type of ‘‘point’’
solution that offer enhanced
functionality that is not provided in the
DMS. IMSs communicate and share data
with the dealer’s DMS and other point
solutions.
12. Full-featured IMSs traditionally
have been used to assist dealers in
managing their used vehicle inventories,
although the leading IMSs increasingly
offer extended functionality to manage
new vehicle inventories. A full-featured
IMS uses algorithms and sophisticated
analytics to help dealers: (1) optimize
their inventories; (2) appraise the value
of vehicles they want to acquire; (3) set
prices for vehicles they want to sell; (4)
publish listings of vehicles that they
have for sale; and (5) run detailed
reports and analytics on vehicle and
dealership performance relative to other
vehicles and dealerships. This
combination of automated analytics,
reporting, optimization, pricing, and
merchandising enables dealers using
full-featured IMSs to operate their
businesses more efficiently and to
increase the rate at which they sell
vehicles (‘‘inventory turns’’) and their
overall profitability.
13. To perform the functionality
described above, a full-featured IMS
must be able to exchange data and
communicate with other automated
solutions. The performance and
competitive viability of a full-featured
IMS depends on the breadth and quality
of its data.
14. A full-featured IMS obtains data
about the dealer’s current inventory and
vehicle sales history from its DMS and
provides the DMS with new or updated
information, such as new or changed
vehicle prices. A full-featured IMS
collects a large amount of wholesale and
retail pricing data, which may include
data from auction services, book value
guides, vehicle history reports, and
online listings. It may also collect
indicators of consumer interest in a
particular vehicle, such as click data
relating to consumers’ online browsing
activities. Further, a full-featured IMS
prepares and distributes vehicle listings
to the dealer’s Web site and third-party
vehicle retail sites.
15. Defendants own or otherwise
control access to many of the most
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important data sources and destinations
for full-featured IMSs. Cox’s Manheim
Market Report is the most
comprehensive and widely used source
of data from auction services. With
AutoTrader, Cox controls the leading
online solution for buying and selling
new and used vehicles. With Kelly Blue
Book, Cox controls the most widely
used consumer-facing book value guide.
With Dealer.com, Dealertrack manages
the majority of franchised dealer Web
sites. With its DMS, Dealertrack
manages inventory and transaction data
for a significant number of franchised
dealers. As described above, Dealertrack
also owns 50% of Chrome, which is the
primary source of vehicle-specific data
relied upon by full-featured IMSs,
DMSs, and many other point solutions
and Web sites.
16. To operate efficiently, a fullfeatured IMS must access and be able to
transmit and receive data about specific
vehicles with other automated
solutions. This vehicle-specific data
includes, but is much broader than,
information about the year, make,
model, engine, plant location, and
country of origin of a vehicle that is
encoded in the 17-digit vehicle
identification number (‘‘VIN’’). A fullfeatured IMS also relies on many
additional categories of vehicle-specific
data, such as editorial content, stock
images, stock videos, ordering guide
pricing data, OEM features and
specifications data, configuration data,
factory service schedule data,
accessories data, warranty information,
OEM new vehicle rebates and incentives
data, and OEM build data (the ‘‘as built’’
equipment manifest and pricing data).
Chrome is the leading provider of this
vehicle-specific information, and
Chrome offers significantly more vehicle
data than any other supplier.
17. Every full-featured IMS relies on
Chrome data, as do most other
automotive solutions and Web sites
with which IMSs exchange vehicle data.
Chrome has become a de facto standard
that these solutions and Web sites
employ to enable the efficient exchange
of information about specific vehicles.
Incorporation of Chrome data into most
major automotive solutions has resulted
in significant network efficiencies.
B. Relevant Product Market
18. A hypothetical monopolist of fullfeatured IMSs profitably could increase
its prices by at least a small but
significant and non-transitory amount.
Full-featured IMSs are most frequently
used by large franchised and
independent dealers. These dealers
generally have larger information
technology budgets, make more
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decisions centrally, and have more
complex operating requirements than
smaller dealers due to larger vehicle
inventories, higher inventory turns, and
more rooftops. They are therefore more
dependent on robust, integrated
automated solutions to effectively
manage their businesses. Although some
other solutions offer dealers certain
aspects of inventory management
functionality, they are less
comprehensive and less robust than
full-featured IMSs. These solutions are
used primarily by smaller dealers and
are not meaningful alternatives to fullfeatured IMSs. Accordingly, fullfeatured IMSs constitute a relevant
product market and line of commerce
for purposes of analyzing the likely
competitive effects of the proposed
acquisition under Section 7 of the
Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. § 18.
C. Relevant Geographic Market
19. Defendants market and sell IMSs
to dealerships located across the United
States, and customers do not
differentiate between IMSs on the basis
of location. A hypothetical monopolist
of full-featured IMSs profitably could
increase its prices to dealers in the
United States by a small but significant
and non-transitory amount.
Accordingly, the United States is a
relevant geographic market for purposes
of analyzing the likely competitive
effects of the proposed acquisition
under Section 7 of the Clayton Act, 15
U.S.C. § 18.
V. ANTICOMPETITIVE EFFECTS OF
THE PROPOSED ACQUISITION
20. Cox and Dealertrack are the two
leading providers of full-featured IMSs.
Cox is the market leader, with a market
share of approximately 60%.
Dealertrack is the second leading
provider with a market share of
approximately 26%. Cox’s proposed
acquisition of Dealertrack would enable
the merged firm to control
approximately 86% of full-featured IMS
sales.
21. Market concentration is often a
useful indicator of the level of
competitive vigor in a market and the
likely competitive effects of a merger.
The more concentrated a market, and
the more a transaction would increase
that concentration, the more likely it is
that the transaction would result in
reduced competition, harming
consumers. Market concentration
commonly is measured by the
Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (‘‘HHI’’),
as discussed in Appendix A. Markets in
which the HHI exceeds 2,500 points are
considered highly concentrated, and
transactions that increase the HHI by
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more than 200 points in highly
concentrated markets are presumed
likely to enhance market power. Here,
the proposed acquisition would
substantially increase market
concentration in a highly concentrated
market, raising the HHI by
approximately 3120 points to a postacquisition HHI of approximately 7526
points.
22. Cox and Dealertrack currently
compete head-to-head and their IMSs
are close substitutes. Cox’s proposed
acquisition of Dealertrack would
eliminate this competition and further
concentrate a market that is already
highly concentrated. As a result, Cox
would emerge as the clearly dominant
provider of full-featured IMSs with the
ability to exercise substantial market
power, thereby increasing the likelihood
that Cox could unilaterally increase
prices or reduce its investment or other
efforts to improve the quality of its
products and services. Moreover, with
the acquisition of Dealertrack, Cox
would acquire an ownership interest in
Chrome that could enable Cox to deny
or restrict access to Chrome data and
thereby unilaterally undermine the
competitive viability of Cox’s remaining
IMS competitors.
VI. ABSENCE OF COUNTERVAILING
FACTORS
23. It is unlikely that any firm would
enter the relevant product and
geographic markets alleged herein in a
timely manner sufficient to defeat the
likely anticompetitive effects of the
proposed acquisition. Successful entry
in the development, marketing,
operation, and sale of a full-featured
IMS to dealers in the United States is
difficult, time-consuming, and costly.
24. Any new entrant would be
required to expend significant time and
capital to design and develop an
automated solution with functionality
that is at least comparable to the
Defendants’ full-featured IMSs,
including developing robust algorithms
that could accurately source, price, and
market a dealer’s vehicles. Successful
entry would also require a substantial
effort in identifying and obtaining
access to the data sources necessary to
power the IMS algorithms, and
significant payments for such data and
for access to the interfaces necessary to
allow the IMS to work with a dealer’s
DMS and other automated solutions. In
particular, it is unlikely that any such
effort would produce an economically
viable alternative to Chrome data in the
near future.
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VII. VIOLATION ALLEGED
25. The United States incorporates the
allegations of paragraphs 1 through 24
above.
26. The proposed acquisition of
Dealertrack by Cox is likely to
substantially lessen competition for fullfeatured IMSs in the United States in
violation of Section 7 of the Clayton
Act, 15 U.S.C. § 18.
27. Unless enjoined, the proposed
acquisition likely will have the
following anticompetitive effects,
among others:
(a) actual and potential competition
between Cox and Dealertrack in the
development, marketing, and sale of
IMSs in the United States will be
eliminated;
(b) competition in the development,
marketing, and sale of IMSs in general
will be substantially lessened;
(c) prices of IMSs will increase;
(d) improvements or upgrades to the
quality or functionality of IMSs will be
less frequent and less substantial; and
(e) the quality of service for IMSs will
decline.
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VIII. REQUEST FOR RELIEF
28. The United States requests that
this Court:
(a) adjudge and decree that Cox’s
proposed acquisition of Dealertrack
would be unlawful and would violate
Section 7 of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C.
18;
(b) permanently enjoin and restrain
Defendants and all persons acting on
their behalf from carrying out the
Agreement and Plan of Merger dated
June 12, 2015, or from entering into or
carrying out any other contract,
agreement, plan, or understanding to
combine Cox with Dealertrack;
(c) award the United States its costs
for this action; and
(d) award the United States such other
and further relief as this Court deems
just and proper.
Dated: September 29, 2015
Respectfully submitted,
FOR PLAINTIFF UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA:
William J. Baer (DC Bar #324723)
Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust
Renata B. Hesse (DC Bar #466107)
Deputy Assistant Attorney General
Patricia A. Brink
Director of Civil Enforcement
James J. Tierney (DC Bar #434610)
Chief, Networks & Technology
Enforcement Section
Aaron Hoag
Matthew Hammond
Assistant Chiefs, Networks &
Technology Enforcement Section
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Ian D. Hoffman
Kent Brown
John C. Filippini (DC Bar #165159)
Patricia L. Sindel (DC Bar #997505)
Trial Attorneys, Networks & Technology
Enforcement Section
Antitrust Division
U.S. Department of Justice
450 Fifth Street NW., Suite 7100
Washington, DC 20530
Phone: (202) 598–2456
Facsimile: (202) 616–8544
Email: ian.hoffman@atr.usdoj.gov
APPENDIX A
Herfindahl-Hirschman Index
The term ‘‘HHI’’ means the
Herfindahl-Hirschman Index, a
commonly accepted measure of market
concentration. The HHI is calculated by
squaring the market share of each firm
competing in the relevant market and
then summing the resulting numbers.
For example, for a market consisting of
four firms with shares of 30, 30, 20, and
20 percent, the HHI is 2,600 (302 + 302
+ 202 + 202 = 2,600). The HHI takes into
account the relative size distribution of
the firms in a market. It approaches zero
when a market is occupied by a large
number of firms of relatively equal size,
and reaches its maximum of 10,000
points when a market is controlled by
a single firm. The HHI increases both as
the number of firms in the market
decreases and as the disparity in size
between those firms increases.
Markets in which the HHI is between
1,500 and 2,500 points are considered to
be moderately concentrated, and
markets in which the HHI is in excess
of 2,500 points are considered to be
highly concentrated. See U.S.
Department of Justice & Federal Trade
Commission, Horizontal Merger
Guidelines § 5.3 (2010) (‘‘Guidelines’’).
Transactions that increase the HHI by
more than 200 points in highly
concentrated markets presumptively
raise antitrust concerns under the
Guidelines. Id.
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT
COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF
COLUMBIA
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Plaintiff, v. COX ENTERPRISES, INC.,
COX AUTOMOTIVE, INC., and
DEALERTRACK TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Defendants.
Case No. 1:15–cv–01583
Judge: Thomas F. Hogan
Description: Antitrust
Filed: September 29, 2015
COMPETITIVE IMPACT STATEMENT
Plaintiff United States of America
(‘‘United States’’), pursuant to Section
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61457
2(b) of the Antitrust Procedures and
Penalties Act (‘‘APPA’’ or ‘‘Tunney
Act’’), 15 U.S.C. 16(b)-(h), files this
Competitive Impact Statement relating
to the proposed Final Judgment
submitted for entry in this civil antitrust
proceeding.
I. NATURE AND PURPOSE OF THE
PROCEEDING
On June 12, 2015, Defendant Cox
Automotive, Inc., a subsidiary of
Defendant Cox Enterprises, Inc.
(collectively ‘‘Cox’’), and Defendant
Dealertrack Technologies, Inc.
(‘‘Dealertrack’’) entered into an
Agreement and Plan of Merger whereby
Cox agreed to commence a cash tender
offer to acquire all of the outstanding
shares of Dealertrack for $63.25 per
share, for a total of approximately $4
billion. The United States filed a civil
antitrust Complaint on September 29,
2015, seeking to enjoin the proposed
acquisition. The Complaint alleges that
the likely effect of this acquisition
would be to lessen competition
substantially for the development,
marketing, and sale of full-featured
inventory management solutions
(‘‘IMSs’’) in the United States in
violation of Section 7 of the Clayton
Act, 15 U.S.C. 18. This loss of
competition likely would result in
higher prices and lower quality for
dealership consumers.
At the same time the Complaint was
filed, the United States also filed a
proposed Final Judgment and Hold
Separate Stipulation and Order (‘‘Hold
Separate’’), which are designed to
prevent the alleged anticompetitive
effects of the acquisition. Under the
proposed Final Judgment, which is
explained more fully below, Defendants
are required: (1) to divest to
DealerSocket, Inc., or to another
Acquirer that is acceptable to the United
States, all of Dealertrack’s interest in its
IMS products and related assets; (2) to
provide short-term transition services
and support to enable the Acquirer to
operate the divested assets without any
disruption as of the date of the
divestiture; (3) to permit for up to four
years the continuing exchange of data
and content between the divested assets
and other data sources, Internet sites,
and automotive solutions that are
owned, controlled, provided, or
managed by Defendants; and (4) to
undertake various obligations to prevent
Defendants from exploiting
Dealertrack’s interest in Chrome Data
Solutions, LP. (‘‘Chrome’’). The parties
have submitted a proposed agreement to
sell the divestiture assets to
DealerSocket, which is currently under
review by the United States.
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Under the terms of the Hold Separate,
Defendants will take certain steps to
ensure that the assets to be divested are
operated as a competitively
independent, economically viable, and
ongoing business concern that will
remain independent and uninfluenced
by the consummation of the acquisition,
and that competition is maintained
during the pendency of the ordered
divestiture.
The United States and Defendants
have stipulated that the proposed Final
Judgment may be entered after
compliance with the APPA, and the
Hold Separate provides that Defendants
will comply with the terms of the
proposed Final Judgment pending its
entry. Entry of the proposed Final
Judgment would terminate this action,
except that the Court would retain
jurisdiction to construe, modify, or
enforce the provisions of the proposed
Final Judgment and to punish violations
thereof.
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II. DESCRIPTION OF THE EVENTS
GIVING RISE TO THE ALLEGED
VIOLATION
A. Defendants and the Proposed
Transaction
Cox Automotive, Inc. and Cox
Enterprises, Inc. are privately-held
Delaware corporations, with their
headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. The
automotive products managed by Cox
encompass a broad portfolio of
automated solutions and services for
automotive dealers and consumers,
including vAuto, a full-featured IMS.
Cox’s total annual automotive revenue
in 2014 was about $4.9 billion, of which
its U.S. IMS revenue was a small part.
Dealertrack is a Delaware corporation
with its headquarters in Lake Success,
New York. Dealertrack develops and
sells a variety of automated solutions
and services for automotive dealers,
including Inventory+, a full-featured
IMS that combines the functionality
from two IMSs that Dealertrack
acquired—AAX and eCarList.
Dealertrack’s total annual revenue in
2014 was about $854 million, of which
its U.S. IMS revenue was a small part.
Dealertrack also owns a 50% interest in
Chrome, a company that compiles and
licenses vehicle information data for use
in IMSs and other automated solutions
and services for the automotive
industry. The remaining 50% interest in
Chrome is owned by Autodata
Solutions, Inc. and Autodata Solutions
Company (collectively, ‘‘Autodata’’).
Cox’s proposed acquisition of
Dealertrack would lessen competition
substantially in the development,
marketing, and sale of full-featured
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IMSs in the United States. The
acquisition is the subject of the
Complaint and proposed Final
Judgment filed by the United States on
September 29, 2015.
B. The Competitive Effects of the
Transaction on IMSs in the United
States
1. Automotive Dealerships and IMSs
In the United States, new and used
vehicles are typically sold to consumers
through automotive dealerships. A
dealership may be ‘‘franchised,’’
meaning it is associated with an original
equipment manufacturer (‘‘OEM’’), or
‘‘independent’’ of any association with
an OEM. New vehicles are acquired by
franchised dealers directly from OEMs
and resold to consumers. Used vehicles
are purchased or otherwise acquired
(often through trade-ins) by franchised
or independent dealers and then sold to
consumers or at wholesale (often at
auction). A dealer may have more than
one physical store (or ‘‘rooftop’’) and
franchised dealers may be associated
with more than one OEM. The type of
automated products and services that a
dealer uses to manage its business often
depends on its size, its level of
sophistication, and whether it is
franchised or independent.
Most large franchised and
independent dealers rely on dealer
management systems (‘‘DMSs’’) to
manage the primary functions of their
businesses, including sales, finance,
accounting, service, parts, and
personnel. The DMS is the central
repository for a large amount of data
about the dealer’s day-to-day business
activities. IMSs are a type of ‘‘point’’
solution that a dealer may use to obtain
enhanced functionality that is not
provided in its DMS. IMSs
communicate and share data with the
dealer’s DMS and other point solutions.
Full-featured IMSs have traditionally
been used to assist dealers in managing
their used vehicle inventory, although
the leading IMSs increasingly offer
extended functionality to manage new
vehicle inventories. A full-featured IMS
uses algorithms and sophisticated
analytics to help dealers: (1) Optimize
their inventories; (2) appraise the value
of vehicles they want to acquire; (3) set
prices for vehicles they want to sell; (4)
publish listings of vehicles that they
have for sale; and (5) run detailed
reports and analytics on vehicle and
dealership performance relative to other
vehicles and dealerships. This
combination of automated analytics,
reporting, optimization, pricing, and
merchandising enables dealers using
full-featured IMSs to operate their used
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vehicle businesses more efficiently and
to increase the rate at which they sell
vehicles (‘‘inventory turns’’) and their
overall profitability.
2. IMS Data Exchange Requirements
and Sources
To perform the functionality
described above, a full-featured IMS
must be able to exchange data and
communicate with other automated
solutions. The performance and
competitive viability of a full-featured
IMS depends on the breadth and quality
of its data sets.
To optimize a dealer’s inventory, a
full-featured IMS obtains data about the
dealer’s current inventory from its DMS
and analyzes it against certain
benchmarks. The IMS recommends
vehicles that the dealer should add to its
inventory and identifies and scores the
desirability of vehicles that are available
for acquisition, thereby allowing dealers
to pick the fastest-selling or most
profitable vehicles. It also identifies
vehicles in inventory that are not selling
well and recommends actions the dealer
should take to price or dispose of those
vehicles.
To appraise and price a vehicle, a fullfeatured IMS collects, aggregates, and
analyzes a large amount of wholesale
and retail pricing data, which may
include data from auction services, book
value guides, vehicle history reports,
and online listings, as well as historical
data from the DMS relating to
transactions involving other similar
vehicles. A full-featured IMS uses this
data to provide the dealer with a view
of the current competitive landscape for
a vehicle, including suggested prices for
meeting various objectives the dealer
may have for the sale of the vehicle. In
addition, a full-featured IMS may
provide an indication of consumer
interest in a particular vehicle, based on
an analysis of when the current
inventory of similar vehicles in an area
will be exhausted or click data relating
to consumers’ online browsing
activities.
A full-featured IMS also automates
the online merchandising of a vehicle
by preparing online postings with
vehicle descriptions and uploading the
vehicle listings, together with photos
and marketing descriptions, to the
dealer’s Web site and third-party vehicle
retail sites. These tools save time by
providing dealers access to multiple
sites through a single platform and
allowing them to create effective,
professional vehicle listings that are
consistent across multiple Web sites.
Defendants own or otherwise control
access to many significant data sources
and destinations for full-featured IMSs.
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Cox’s Manheim Market Report is the
most comprehensive and widely used
source of data from auction services.
With AutoTrader, Cox controls the
leading online solution for buying and
selling new and used vehicles. With
Kelly Blue Book, Cox controls the most
widely used consumer-facing vehicle
book value guide. With Dealer.com,
Dealertrack manages the majority of
franchised dealer Web sites. With its
DMS, Dealertrack manages the
inventory and transaction data for a
significant number of franchised
dealers. As described above, Dealertrack
also owns 50% of Chrome, which is the
primary source of vehicle-specific data
relied upon by full-featured IMSs,
DMSs, and many other point solutions
and Web sites.
To operate efficiently, a full-featured
IMS must access and communicate data
about specific vehicles with other
automated solutions. This vehiclespecific data includes, but is much
broader than, information about the
year, make, model, engine, plant
location, and country of origin of a
vehicle that is encoded in the 17-digit
vehicle identification number (‘‘VIN’’).
A full-featured IMS also relies on many
additional categories of vehicle-specific
data, such as editorial content, stock
images, stock videos, ordering guide
pricing data, OEM features and
specifications data, configuration data,
factory service schedule data,
accessories data, warranty information,
OEM new vehicle rebates and incentives
data, and OEM build data (the ‘‘as built’’
equipment manifest and pricing data).
Chrome is the leading provider of this
vehicle-specific information, and
Chrome offers significantly more vehicle
data than any other supplier
Every full-featured IMS relies on
Chrome data, as do most other
automotive solutions and Web sites
with which the IMSs exchange
information about specific vehicles.
Indeed, Chrome has become the de facto
standard that these solutions and Web
sites employ to enable the efficient
exchange of information about specific
vehicles. Incorporation of Chrome data
into most major automotive solutions
has resulted in significant network
efficiencies.
3. Market Structure and Competitive
Effects
Full-featured IMSs are most
frequently used by large franchised and
independent dealers. These dealers
generally have larger IT budgets, make
more decisions centrally, and have more
complex operating requirements than
smaller dealers due to larger vehicle
inventories, higher inventory turns, and
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more rooftops. These dealers are more
dependent on full-featured IMSs and
other robust, integrated automated
solutions to effectively manage their
businesses. Although some other
solutions offer dealers certain aspects of
inventory management functionality,
they are less comprehensive and less
robust than full-featured IMSs. These
solutions are used primarily by smaller
dealers and are not meaningful
alternatives to full-featured IMSs.
Cox and Dealertrack are by far the two
leading providers of full-featured IMSs.
Cox is the market leader with a market
share of approximately 60%;
Dealertrack has a market share of about
26%.
Cox and Dealertrack currently
compete head-to-head in the
development, marketing, and sale of
their respective full-featured IMSs. The
proposed acquisition would eliminate
this competition, and Cox would emerge
as the clearly dominant full-featured
IMS provider with the ability to exercise
substantial market power, thereby
increasing the likelihood that Cox can
and would unilaterally increase prices
or reduce its investment or other efforts
to improve the quality of its products
and services. Moreover, with the
acquisition of Dealertrack, Cox would
acquire an ownership interest in
Chrome that could enable Cox to deny
or restrict access to Chrome data and
thereby unilaterally undermine the
competitive viability of Cox’s remaining
IMS competitors.
III. EXPLANATION OF THE
PROPOSED FINAL JUDGMENT
The divestiture and other remedial
measures of the proposed Final
Judgment will prevent the alleged
anticompetitive effects of the
acquisition by preserving Dealertrack’s
IMS business as an economically viable
competitor. Pursuant to Section IV, the
proposed Final Judgment requires
Defendants, within ten (10) days after
the Court’s signing of the Hold Separate
or the closing of Cox’s acquisition of
Dealertrack, whichever is later, to divest
the products, related assets, and ongoing
business operations relating to
Dealertrack’s IMS business operations in
the United States.1 The assets must be
divested in such a way as to satisfy the
United States in its sole discretion that
the operations can and will be operated
by the Acquirer as a viable, ongoing
business that can compete effectively in
providing IMSs.
1 Some IMS products that Dealertrack sells in the
U.S. are also sold in Canada. Defendants are
required to divest Dealertrack’s entire interest in the
specified IMS products.
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Defendants must use their best efforts
to complete the required divestiture as
expeditiously as possible. Defendants
have proposed a divestiture to
DealerSocket. If the proposed
divestiture to DealerSocket is delayed,
abandoned, or not approved, the United
States, in its sole discretion, may agree
to one or more extensions of the time for
Defendants to complete the divestiture
to DealerSocket or another Acquirer that
is acceptable to the United States. All
such extensions may not exceed one
hundred and twenty (120) calendar
days.
If Defendants do not complete the
divestiture within the prescribed time,
Section VI of the Final Judgment
provides that the Court will appoint a
trustee selected by the United States to
effect the divestiture. Defendants are
required to use their best efforts to assist
the trustee in accomplishing the
divestiture and will pay the trustee’s
costs and expenses. The trustee’s
commission will be structured so as to
provide an incentive for the trustee
based on the price obtained and the
speed with which the divestiture is
accomplished. The trustee will file
monthly reports with the Court and the
United States setting forth his or her
efforts to accomplish the divestiture. If
the trustee does not complete the
divestiture within six months, the
trustee and the United States will make
recommendations to the Court, which
shall enter such orders as appropriate to
carry out the purpose of the proposed
Final Judgment, including potentially
extending the trust or the term of the
trustee’s appointment.
Section V of the proposed Final
Judgment imposes additional
obligations to foster a smooth transfer of
Dealertrack’s IMS business to
DealerSocket or another Acquirer and to
ensure for a reasonable time that
Defendants permit the uninterrupted
exchange of data and content between
the divested IMS products and other
data sources, Internet sites, and
automotive solutions that are owned,
controlled, provided, or managed by
Defendants. Section V.A requires
Defendants to provide for up to one year
any transition services that are
necessary to enable the Acquirer to
operate the divested assets and compete
effectively in the market for IMSs as of
the date of the divestiture.
Section V.B requires Defendants to
enable for up to four years the exchange
of data and other content that is
currently being exchanged between the
divested IMS products and any
destinations, sites, or other data sources
that Defendants control. This section
provides for the continuing exchange of
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data between the divested IMS products
and, for example, Cox’s Manheim,
AutoTrader, and KBB products. Section
V.C requires Defendants to provide for
the exchange of this data on the same
terms that were in effect before the
divestiture and specifies conditions
when the Acquirer may elect to
exchange the data under more favorable
terms.
Section V.F requires Defendants to
enable, at cost, for up to four years the
exchange of an IMS customer’s data that
is currently being exchanged between
the divested IMS products and any of
the customer’s other sites or solutions
that are provided or managed by
Defendants. This section provides for
the continuing exchange of a customer’s
data between the divested IMS product
used by the customer and, for example,
the customer’s Web site that is managed
by Dealertrack’s Dealer.com or the
customer’s Dealertrack DMS. Section
V.G requires Defendants to provide for
the exchange of this customer data on
the same terms that were in effect before
the divestiture and specifies conditions
when the Acquirer may elect to
exchange the data under more favorable
terms.
Sections V.L through V.P impose
various obligations to ensure that
Defendants do not take any action to
disrupt access to Chrome data by their
IMS competitors, including the
Acquirer, or to reduce or limit the value
that Defendants’ IMS competitors derive
from Chrome’s status as a de facto
standard in many automotive solutions
and Web sites. In particular, Defendants
are prohibited from taking any action
that would prevent Autodata from
exercising the right it will have to
acquire and exercise control of Chrome
after Cox completes its acquisition of
Dealertrack (Section V.L); from
exercising any rights, other than a
limited right to veto the renewal of a
Chrome license to CDK Global or
Reynolds and Reynolds (‘‘Reynolds’’)
(discussed below), with respect to the
licensing or pricing of Chrome data to
any customer or customer class that
competes with Defendants (Section
V.M); from reviewing or using the
competitively sensitive information of
any customer or customer class that
competes with Defendants (Section
V.N); and from acquiring any additional
assets or interests in Chrome (Section
V.O). Section V.P requires Defendants to
use all reasonable efforts to amend the
Chrome joint venture and operating
agreements to incorporate the
limitations or rights imposed by
Sections V.L through V.O. These
amendments would allow the
requirements in Sections V.L through
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V.O to survive termination of the
proposed Final Judgment in a private
agreement that could be enforced by
Autodata and could only be withdrawn
or modified with Autodata’s consent.
CDK Global and Reynolds currently
account for the vast majority of all DMS
sales, and Dealertrack currently has the
right to veto any Chrome license with
CDK Global or Reynolds. Section V.M
would substantially limit Defendants’
use of this preexisting right to when
either CDK Global or Reynolds
terminates, without reasonable cause,
the ability of CDK Global’s or Reynolds’
DMS products to interoperate with the
Defendants’ products. This provision
preserves an industry dynamic that
favors interoperability and benefits
consumers.
Section XI of the proposed Final
Judgment provides that, on application
of the United States, the Court shall
appoint a Monitoring Trustee selected
by the United States. The Monitoring
Trustee will have the power and
authority to investigate and report on
Defendants’ compliance with the Final
Judgment and Hold Separate, including
Defendants’ compliance with all of the
obligations in Section V relating to
transition services, data exchange, and
Chrome data. The Monitoring Trustee
will not have any responsibility or
obligation for the operation of
Defendants’ businesses. The Monitoring
Trustee will serve at Defendants’
expense, on such terms and conditions
as the United States approves, and
Defendants must use their best efforts to
assist the trustee in fulfilling its
obligations. The Monitoring Trustee will
file quarterly reports and will serve
until the required divestiture is
complete and for so long as Defendants
continue to have obligations under
Section V.
IV. REMEDIES AVAILABLE TO
POTENTIAL PRIVATE LITIGANTS
Section 4 of the Clayton Act, 15
U.S.C. 15, provides that any person who
has been injured as a result of conduct
prohibited by the antitrust laws may
bring suit in federal court to recover
three times the damages the person has
suffered, as well as costs and reasonable
attorneys’ fees. Entry of the proposed
Final Judgment will neither impair nor
assist the bringing of any private
antitrust damage action. Under the
provisions of Section 5(a) of the Clayton
Act, 15 U.S.C. 16(a), the proposed Final
Judgment has no prima facie effect in
any subsequent private lawsuit that may
be brought against Defendants.
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V. PROCEDURES AVAILABLE FOR
MODIFICATION OF THE PROPOSED
FINAL JUDGMENT
The United States and Defendants
have stipulated that the proposed Final
Judgment may be entered by the Court
after compliance with the provisions of
the APPA, provided that the United
States has not withdrawn its consent.
The APPA conditions entry upon the
Court’s determination that the proposed
Final Judgment is in the public interest.
The APPA provides a period of at
least sixty (60) days preceding the
effective date of the proposed Final
Judgment within which any person may
submit to the United States written
comments regarding the proposed Final
Judgment. Any person who wishes to
comment should do so within sixty (60)
days of the date of publication of this
Competitive Impact Statement in the
Federal Register, or the last date of
publication in a newspaper of the
summary of this Competitive Impact
Statement, whichever is later. All
comments received during this period
will be considered by the United States
Department of Justice, which remains
free to withdraw its consent to the
proposed Final Judgment at any time
prior to the Court’s entry of judgment.
The comments and the response of the
United States will be filed with the
Court. In addition, comments will be
posted on the U.S. Department of
Justice, Antitrust Division’s Internet
Web site and, under certain
circumstances, published in the Federal
Register.
Written comments should be
submitted to:
James J. Tierney, Chief
Networks & Technology Enforcement
Section
Antitrust Division
United States Department of Justice
450 Fifth Street NW., Suite 7100
Washington, DC 20530
The proposed Final Judgment provides
that the Court retains jurisdiction over
this action, and the parties may apply to
the Court for any order necessary or
appropriate for the modification,
interpretation, or enforcement of the
Final Judgment.
VI. ALTERNATIVES TO THE
PROPOSED FINAL JUDGMENT
The United States considered, as an
alternative to the proposed Final
Judgment, a full trial on the merits
against Defendants. The United States
could have continued the litigation and
sought preliminary and permanent
injunctions against Cox’s acquisition of
Dealertrack. The United States is
satisfied, however, that the divestiture
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of assets and other relief described in
the proposed Final Judgment and Hold
Separate will preserve competition for
the provision of IMSs in the United
States, and thus effectively addresses
the violation alleged in the Complaint.
The proposed Final Judgment would
therefore achieve all or substantially all
of the relief the United States would
have obtained through litigation, but
avoids the time, expense, and
uncertainty of a full trial on the merits.
VII. STANDARD OF REVIEW UNDER
THE APPA FOR THE PROPOSED
FINAL JUDGMENT
The Clayton Act, as amended by the
APPA, requires that proposed consent
judgments in antitrust cases brought by
the United States be subject to a sixtyday comment period, after which the
Court shall determine whether entry of
the proposed Final Judgment ‘‘is in the
public interest.’’ 15 U.S.C. 16(e)(1). In
making that determination, the Court, in
accordance with the statute as amended
in 2004, is required to consider:
(A) the competitive impact of such
judgment, including termination of
alleged violations, provisions for
enforcement and modification, duration
of relief sought, anticipated effects of
alternative remedies actually
considered, whether its terms are
ambiguous, and any other competitive
considerations bearing upon the
adequacy of such judgment that the
court deems necessary to a
determination of whether the consent
judgment is in the public interest; and
(B) the impact of entry of such
judgment upon competition in the
relevant market or markets, upon the
public generally and individuals
alleging specific injury from the
violations set forth in the complaint
including consideration of the public
benefit, if any, to be derived from a
determination of the issues at trial.
15 U.S.C. 16(e)(1)(A) & (B). In
considering these statutory factors, the
Court’s inquiry is necessarily a limited
one as the government is entitled to
‘‘broad discretion to settle with the
defendant within the reaches of the
public interest.’’ United States v.
Microsoft Corp., 56 F.3d 1448, 1461
(D.C. Cir. 1995); see generally United
States v. SBC Commc’ns, Inc., 489 F.
Supp. 2d 1 (D.D.C. 2007) (assessing
public interest standard under the
Tunney Act); United States v, U.S.
Airways Group, Inc., 38 F. Supp. 3d 69,
75 (D.D.C. 2014) (explaining that the
‘‘court’s inquiry is limited’’ in Tunney
Act settlements); United States v. InBev
N.V./S.A., No. 08–1965 (JR), 2009–2
Trade Cas. (CCH) ¶ 76,736, 2009 U.S.
Dist. LEXIS 84787, at *3, (D.D.C. Aug.
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11, 2009) (noting that the court’s review
of a consent judgment is limited and
only inquires ‘‘into whether the
government’s determination that the
proposed remedies will cure the
antitrust violations alleged in the
complaint was reasonable, and whether
the mechanism to enforce the final
judgment are clear and manageable.’’).2
As the United States Court of Appeals
for the District of Columbia Circuit has
held, under the APPA a court considers,
among other things, the relationship
between the remedy secured and the
specific allegations set forth in the
government’s complaint, whether the
decree is sufficiently clear, whether
enforcement mechanisms are sufficient,
and whether the decree may positively
harm third parties. See Microsoft, 56
F.3d at 1458–62. With respect to the
adequacy of the relief secured by the
decree, a court may not ‘‘engage in an
unrestricted evaluation of what relief
would best serve the public.’’ United
States v. BNS, Inc., 858 F.2d 456, 462
(9th Cir. 1988) (quoting United States v.
Bechtel Corp., 648 F.2d 660, 666 (9th
Cir. 1981)); see also Microsoft, 56 F.3d
at 1460–62; United States v. Alcoa, Inc.,
152 F. Supp. 2d 37, 40 (D.D.C. 2001);
InBev, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 84787, at
*3. Courts have held that:
[t]he balancing of competing social and
political interests affected by a proposed
antitrust consent decree must be left, in
the first instance, to the discretion of the
Attorney General. The court’s role in
protecting the public interest is one of
insuring that the government has not
breached its duty to the public in
consenting to the decree. The court is
required to determine not whether a
particular decree is the one that will
best serve society, but whether the
settlement is ‘‘within the reaches of the
public interest.’’ More elaborate
requirements might undermine the
effectiveness of antitrust enforcement by
consent decree.
Bechtel, 648 F.2d at 666 (emphasis
added) (citations omitted).3 In
2 The 2004 amendments substituted ‘‘shall’’ for
‘‘may’’ in directing relevant factors for courts to
consider and amended the list of factors to focus on
competitive considerations and to address
potentially ambiguous judgment terms. Compare 15
U.S.C. 16(e) (2004), with 15 U.S.C. 16(e)(1) (2006);
see also SBC Commc’ns, 489 F. Supp. 2d at 11
(concluding that the 2004 amendments ‘‘effected
minimal changes’’ to Tunney Act review).
3 Cf. BNS, 858 F.2d at 464 (holding that the
court’s ‘‘ultimate authority under the [APPA] is
limited to approving or disapproving the consent
decree’’); United States v. Gillette Co., 406 F. Supp.
713, 716 (D. Mass. 1975) (noting that, in this way,
the court is constrained to ‘‘look at the overall
picture not hypercritically, nor with a microscope,
but with an artist’s reducing glass’’). See generally
Microsoft, 56 F.3d at 1461 (discussing whether ‘‘the
remedies [obtained in the decree are] so
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determining whether a proposed
settlement is in the public interest, a
district court ‘‘must accord deference to
the government’s predictions about the
efficacy of its remedies, and may not
require that the remedies perfectly
match the alleged violations.’’ SBC
Commc’ns, 489 F. Supp. 2d at 17; see
also U.S. Airways, 38 F. Supp. 3d at 75
(noting that a court should not reject the
proposed remedies because it believes
others are preferable); Microsoft, 56 F.3d
at 1461 (noting the need for courts to be
‘‘deferential to the government’s
predictions as to the effect of the
proposed remedies’’); United States v.
Archer-Daniels-Midland Co., 272 F.
Supp. 2d 1, 6 (D.D.C. 2003) (noting that
the court should grant due respect to the
United States’ prediction as to the effect
of proposed remedies, its perception of
the market structure, and its views of
the nature of the case).
Courts have greater flexibility in
approving proposed consent decrees
than in crafting their own decrees
following a finding of liability in a
litigated matter. ‘‘[A] proposed decree
must be approved even if it falls short
of the remedy the court would impose
on its own, as long as it falls within the
range of acceptability or is ‘within the
reaches of public interest.’’’ United
States v. Am. Tel. & Tel. Co., 552 F.
Supp. 131, 151 (D.D.C. 1982) (citations
omitted) (quoting United States v.
Gillette Co., 406 F. Supp. 713, 716 (D.
Mass. 1975)), aff’d sub nom. Maryland
v. United States, 460 U.S. 1001 (1983);
see also U.S. Airways, 38 F. Supp. 3d at
76 (noting that room must be made for
the government to grant concessions in
the negotiation process for settlements)
(citing Microsoft, 56 F.3d at 1461);
United States v. Alcan Aluminum Ltd.,
605 F. Supp. 619, 622 (W.D. Ky. 1985)
(approving the consent decree even
though the court would have imposed a
greater remedy). To meet this standard,
the United States ‘‘need only provide a
factual basis for concluding that the
settlements are reasonably adequate
remedies for the alleged harms.’’ SBC
Commc’ns, 489 F. Supp. 2d at 17.
Moreover, the Court’s role under the
APPA is limited to reviewing the
remedy in relationship to the violations
that the United States has alleged in its
Complaint, and does not authorize the
Court to ‘‘construct [its] own
hypothetical case and then evaluate the
decree against that case.’’ Microsoft, 56
F.3d at 1459; see also U.S. Airways, 38
F. Supp. 3d at 75 (noting that the court
must simply determine whether there is
a factual foundation for the
inconsonant with the allegations charged as to fall
outside of the ‘reaches of the public interest’ ’’).
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government’s decisions such that its
conclusions regarding the proposed
settlements are reasonable); InBev, 2009
U.S. Dist. LEXIS 84787, at *20 (‘‘the
‘public interest’ is not to be measured by
comparing the violations alleged in the
complaint against those the court
believes could have, or even should
have, been alleged’’). Because the
‘‘court’s authority to review the decree
depends entirely on the government’s
exercising its prosecutorial discretion by
bringing a case in the first place,’’ it
follows that ‘‘the court is only
authorized to review the decree itself,’’
and not to ‘‘effectively redraft the
complaint’’ to inquire into other matters
that the United States did not pursue.
Microsoft, 56 F.3d at 1459–60. As this
Court confirmed in SBC
Communications, courts ‘‘cannot look
beyond the complaint in making the
public interest determination unless the
complaint is drafted so narrowly as to
make a mockery of judicial power.’’ SBC
Commc’ns, 489 F. Supp. 2d at 15.
In its 2004 amendments, Congress
made clear its intent to preserve the
practical benefits of utilizing consent
decrees in antitrust enforcement, adding
the unambiguous instruction that
‘‘[n]othing in this section shall be
construed to require the court to
conduct an evidentiary hearing or to
require the court to permit anyone to
intervene.’’ 15 U.S.C. 16(e)(2); see also
U.S. Airways, 38 F. Supp. 3d at 76
(indicating that a court is not required
to hold an evidentiary hearing or to
permit intervenors as part of its review
under the Tunney Act). The language
wrote into the statute what Congress
intended when it enacted the Tunney
Act in 1974, as Senator Tunney
explained: ‘‘[t]he court is nowhere
compelled to go to trial or to engage in
extended proceedings which might have
the effect of vitiating the benefits of
prompt and less costly settlement
through the consent decree process.’’
119 Cong. Rec. 24,598 (1973) (statement
of Sen. Tunney). Rather, the procedure
for the public interest determination is
left to the discretion of the Court, with
the recognition that the Court’s ‘‘scope
of review remains sharply proscribed by
precedent and the nature of Tunney Act
proceedings.’’ SBC Commc’ns, 489 F.
Supp. 2d at 11.4 A court can make its
4 See United States v. Enova Corp., 107 F. Supp.
2d 10, 17 (D.D.C. 2000) (noting that the ‘‘Tunney
Act expressly allows the court to make its public
interest determination on the basis of the
competitive impact statement and response to
comments alone’’); United States v. Mid-Am.
Dairymen, Inc., No. 73–CV–681–W–1, 1977–1 Trade
Cas. (CCH) ¶ 61,508, at 71,980, *22 (W.D. Mo. 1977)
(‘‘Absent a showing of corrupt failure of the
government to discharge its duty, the Court, in
making its public interest finding, should . . .
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public interest determination based on
the competitive impact statement and
response to public comments alone.
U.S. Airways, 38 F. Supp. 3d at 76.
VIII. DETERMINATIVE DOCUMENTS
There are no determinative materials
or documents within the meaning of the
APPA that were considered by the
United States in formulating the
proposed Final Judgment.
Dated: September 29, 2015
Respectfully submitted,
Ian D. Hoffman
Kent Brown
U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust
Division
Networks & Technology Enforcement
Section
450 Fifth Street, NW., Suite 7100
Washington, DC 20530
Phone: (202) 598–2456
Facsimile: (202) 616–8544
Email: ian.hoffman@atr.usdoj.gov
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT
COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Plaintiff, v. COX ENTERPRISES, INC.,
COX AUTOMOTIVE, INC., and
DEALERTRACK TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Defendants.
Case No. 1:15–cv–01583
Judge: Thomas F. Hogan
Description: Antitrust
Filed: September 29, 2015
FINAL JUDGMENT
WHEREAS, Plaintiff United States of
America filed its Complaint on
September 29, 2015, the United States
and Defendants, Cox Enterprises, Inc.,
Cox Automotive, Inc., and Dealertrack
Technologies, Inc., by their respective
attorneys, have consented to the entry of
this Final Judgment without trial or
adjudication of any issue of fact or law,
and without this Final Judgment
constituting any evidence against or
admission by any party regarding any
issue of fact or law;
AND WHEREAS, Defendants agree to
be bound by the provisions of this Final
Judgment pending its approval by the
Court;
AND WHEREAS, the essence of this
Final Judgment is the prompt and
certain divestiture of certain rights or
carefully consider the explanations of the
government in the competitive impact statement
and its responses to comments in order to
determine whether those explanations are
reasonable under the circumstances.’’); S. Rep. No.
93–298, at 6 (1973) (‘‘Where the public interest can
be meaningfully evaluated simply on the basis of
briefs and oral arguments, that is the approach that
should be utilized.’’).
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assets by the Defendants to assure that
competition is not substantially
lessened;
AND WHEREAS, the United States
requires Defendants to make certain
divestitures and to undertake certain
actions and refrain from certain conduct
for the purpose of remedying the loss of
competition alleged in the Complaint;
AND WHEREAS, Defendants have
represented to the United States that the
divestiture and conduct restrictions
required below can and will be made
and that Defendants will later raise no
claim of hardship or difficulty as
grounds for asking the Court to modify
any of the provisions contained below;
NOW THEREFORE, before any
testimony is taken, without trial or
adjudication of any issue of fact or law,
and upon consent of the parties, it is
ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED:
I. JURISDICTION
This Court has jurisdiction over the
subject matter of and each of the parties
to this action. The Complaint states a
claim upon which relief may be granted
against Defendants under Section 7 of
the Clayton Act, as amended, 15 U.S.C.
18.
II. DEFINITIONS
As used in this Final Judgment:
A. ‘‘Acquirer’’ means DealerSocket,
Inc. or another entity to whom
Defendants divest the Divestiture
Assets.
B. ‘‘Affiliate’’ means directly or
indirectly controlling, controlled by, or
under common control with a Person.
C. ‘‘Autodata’’ means Autodata
Solutions, Inc., a Delaware corporation;
Autodata Solutions Company, a Nova
Scotia unlimited liability company; and
all of their successors and assigns, and
their subsidiaries, divisions, groups,
Affiliates, partnerships and joint
ventures, and their directors, officers,
managers, agents, trustees, and
employees.
D. ‘‘Chrome’’ means Chrome Data
Solutions, LP, a Delaware limited
partnership; Chrome Data Operating,
LLC, a Delaware limited liability
company; AutoChrome Company, a
Nova Scotia unlimited liability
company; and all of their successors and
assigns, and their subsidiaries, division,
groups, Affiliates, partnerships and joint
ventures, and their directors, officers,
managers, agents, trustees and
employees.
E. ‘‘Chrome Agreements’’ means the
Operating Agreement of Chrome Data
Operating, LLC, effective as of January
1, 2012; the Amended and Restated
Agreement of Limited Partnership of
Chrome Data Solutions, LP, effective as
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of January 1, 2012; and the Shareholders
Agreement of AutoChrome Company,
effective as of January 1, 2012; and all
amendments, modifications, or codicils
to any of them.
F. ‘‘Chrome Data’’ means any vehicle
information data, databases, or data sets
for any make or model of vehicle, and
related software and services, licensed,
sold, or resold by Chrome, including but
not limited to editorial content, stock
images, stock videos, ordering guide
pricing data, automotive feature and
specification data from new vehicle
original equipment manufacturer
(‘‘OEM’’) publications, new vehicle
OEM rebates and incentives data,
configuration related data, factory
service schedule data, Vehicle
Identification Number (‘‘VIN’’) decode
data, OEM build data, and accessories
data, and including any improvement,
enhancement, or modification made
thereto.
G. ‘‘Competitively Sensitive
Information’’ means non-public
information relating to (i) the terms and
conditions (including but not limited to
fees or prices) of any actual or
prospective contract, agreement,
understanding, or relationship
concerning the licensing of Chrome
Data, to specific or identifiable
customers or classes or groups of
customers, or (ii) the existence of any
such prospective contract, agreement,
understanding, or relationship, as well
as any proprietary customer
information, including but not limited
to customer-specific vehicle queries,
vehicle lists, or vehicle inventory.
Competitively Sensitive Information
does not include information (1)
disclosed in public materials or
otherwise in the public domain through
no fault of the receiving party, (2)
lawfully obtained by the receiving party
from a third party without any
obligation of confidentiality, (3)
lawfully known to the receiving party
prior to disclosure by the disclosing
party, or (4) independently developed
by the receiving party.
H. ‘‘Cox’’ means Cox Automotive,
Inc., a Delaware corporation with its
headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia; Cox
Enterprises, Inc., a Delaware corporation
with its headquarters in Atlanta,
Georgia; and all of their successors and
assigns, and their subsidiaries,
divisions, groups, Affiliates,
partnerships and joint ventures, and
their directors, officers, managers,
agents, trustees, and employees
(including but not limited to the Cox
Family Voting Trust u/a/d 7/26/13 and
its trustees).
I. ‘‘Dealertrack’’ means Dealertrack
Technologies, Inc., a Delaware
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corporation with its headquarters in
Lake Success, New York, its successors
and assigns, and its subsidiaries,
divisions, groups, Affiliates,
partnerships and joint ventures, and
their directors, officers, managers,
agents, trustees, and employees.
J. ‘‘DealerSocket’’ means
DealerSocket, Inc., a Delaware
corporation with its headquarters in San
Clemente, California, its successors and
assigns, and its subsidiaries, divisions,
groups, Affiliates, partnerships and joint
ventures, and their directors, officers,
managers, agents, trustees, and
employees.
K. ‘‘Defendants’’ means Cox and
Dealertrack, acting individually or
collectively. Where this Final Judgment
imposes an obligation to engage in or
refrain from engaging in certain
conduct, that obligation shall apply to
each Defendant individually and to any
combination of Defendants.
L. ‘‘Divested Product’’ means
Dealertrack eCarList®, Dealertrack
AAX®, and Dealertrack’s Inventory+
and InventoryPro, and all products,
options, applications, features,
functions, modules, add-ons, and
services relating to any such product,
including the products listed in
Schedule A. A Divested Product
includes each predecessor version of the
product and each version that has been
or is currently under development or
that has been developed but has not
been sold or distributed.
M. ‘‘Divestiture Assets’’ means the
ongoing business relating to any
Divested Product and all tangible and
intangible assets owned or licensed by
Dealertrack relating to developing,
testing, producing, marketing, licensing,
selling, or distributing any Divested
Product on a standalone basis or in
supplying any support or maintenance
services for any Divested Product on a
standalone basis, including:
(1) all tangible assets related to the
Divested Product, including all research
and development activities; computer
systems, databases, networking
equipment and data centers; personal
property, inventory, office furniture,
materials, supplies, and other tangible
property and all assets used exclusively
in connection with the Divested
Product; licenses; permits, licenses and
authorizations issued by any
governmental organization relating to
the Divested Product to the extent
transferrable; contracts, teaming
arrangements, supply agreements,
agreements, leases, commitments,
certifications, and understandings
relating to the Divested Product;
customer lists, contracts, accounts, and
credit records; sales support material;
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repair, maintenance and performance
records; and all other records relating to
the Divested Product; and
(2) all intangible assets related to the
Divested Product, including, but not
limited to, all vehicle data and
information accessed by a Divested
Product as of August 1, 2015; all
patents, licenses and sublicenses,
including data licenses; intellectual
property; copyrights, trademarks, trade
names, service marks, service names;
computer software and related
documentation, including software
customizations, optional modules and
add-ons for a Divested Product; source
code, object code, and related
documentation; development tools,
development environments, proprietary
programming languages, know-how,
designs, drawing, specifications,
research data, trade secrets, historic and
current research and development,
results of successful and unsuccessful
designs and experiments, and all other
intellectual property used to develop,
upgrade or maintain a Divested Product;
and software programs, instructions,
manuals and all other technical
information Dealertrack provides to its
own employees, customers, suppliers,
agents, or licensees to facilitate the
operation of any Divested Product.
N. ‘‘DMS’’ means dealer management
solution software, hardware, or services,
or any combination thereof, used for
automotive dealership management,
including keeping track of, organizing,
or in any way managing the operations,
including sales, inventory, maintenance,
service, payroll, accounting, personnel,
and other aspects of the dealership’s
business.
O. ‘‘IMS’’ means inventory
management solution software,
hardware, or services, or any
combination thereof, used for vehicle
inventory management, including
optimization, analytics, organization,
stocking, provisioning, appraising,
pricing, merchandising, sourcing,
buying, selling, acquisition or disposal
at auction or at wholesale, and interenterprise transfers.
P. ‘‘Person’’ means any natural
person, corporation, company,
partnership, joint venture, firm,
association, proprietorship, agency,
board, authority, commission, office,
trust, or other business or legal entity,
whether private or governmental.
Q. ‘‘Transition Services Agreement’’
means an agreement between
Defendants and Acquirer for Defendants
to provide all necessary transition
services and support to enable Acquirer
to fully operate the Divestiture Assets
and compete effectively in the market
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III. APPLICABILITY
A. This Final Judgment applies to
Defendants, and all other Persons in
active concert or participation with any
of them who receive actual notice of this
Final Judgment by personal service or
otherwise.
B. If Defendants sell or otherwise
dispose of all or substantially all of their
assets, or of lesser business units that
include the Divestiture Assets, they
shall require the purchaser to be bound
by the provisions of this Final
Judgment. Defendants need not obtain
such an agreement from Acquirer of the
assets divested pursuant to this Final
Judgment.
IV. DIVESTITURE
A. Defendants are ordered and
directed, within ten (10) calendar days
after (i) the Court’s signing of the Hold
Separate Stipulation and Order in this
matter, (ii) the closing of Cox’s
acquisition of Dealertrack, whichever is
later, to divest the Divestiture Assets in
a manner consistent with this Final
Judgment to DealerSocket or another
Acquirer acceptable to the United
States, in its sole discretion. The United
States, in its sole discretion, may agree
to one or more extensions of this time
period, with any one extension not to
exceed sixty (60) calendar days and all
extensions not to exceed one hundred
and twenty (120) calendar days in total,
and shall notify the Court in such
circumstances. Defendants agree to use
their best efforts to divest the
Divestiture Assets as expeditiously as
possible. As to any Divestiture Asset
that is not primarily related to the
Divested Product because its primary
use or application is in a product that
will be retained by the Defendants, the
asset may be divested pursuant to
Section IV or VI of this Final Judgment
by granting Acquirer a perpetual, nonexclusive license.
B. In the event Defendants attempt to
divest the Divestiture Assets to an
Acquirer other than DealerSocket,
Defendants promptly shall make known,
by usual and customary means, the
availability of the Divestiture Assets.
Defendants shall inform any Person
making an inquiry regarding a possible
purchase of the Divestiture Assets that
they are being divested pursuant to this
Final Judgment and provide that Person
with a copy of this Final Judgment.
C. In accomplishing the divestiture
ordered by this Final Judgment,
Defendants shall offer to furnish to all
prospective Acquirers, subject to
customary confidentiality assurances,
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all information and documents relating
to the Divestiture Assets customarily
provided in a due diligence process
except such information or documents
subject to the attorney-client privilege or
work-product doctrine. Defendants shall
make available such information to the
United States at the same time that such
information is made available to any
other Person.
D. Defendants shall provide Acquirer
and the United States information
relating to the personnel involved in the
operation, development, service,
maintenance, customer support, license,
and sale of the Divestiture Assets to
enable Acquirer to make offers of
employment. Defendants shall not
interfere with any negotiations, offers,
or actions by Acquirer to employ any
Defendant employee whose primary
responsibility is in the operation,
development, service, maintenance,
customer support, license, or sale of the
Divestiture Assets.
E. Defendants shall permit
prospective Acquirers of the Divestiture
Assets to have reasonable access to
personnel and to make inspections of
the physical facilities of Dealertrack that
relate in any way to the Divestiture
Assets; access to any and all
environmental, zoning, and other permit
documents and information; and access
to any and all financial, operational, or
other documents and information
customarily provided as part of a due
diligence process.
F. Defendants shall warrant to
Acquirer that each of the Divestiture
Assets will be in good working
condition and repair on the date of sale.
G. Defendants shall not take any
action that will impede in any way the
permitting, operation, or divestiture of
the Divestiture Assets.
H. Defendants shall warrant to
Acquirer that the Divestiture Assets are
in material compliance with the terms
of each of, and have not received any
written notices of violation or alleged
violation with respect to any of, the
environmental, zoning or other permits
necessary for the operation of each of
the Divestiture Assets.
I. Unless the United States otherwise
consents in writing, the divestiture
required pursuant to this Section IV, or
by a Divestiture Trustee appointed
pursuant to Section VI of this Final
Judgment, shall include the entire
Divestiture Assets, and shall be
accomplished in such a way as to satisfy
the United States, in its sole discretion,
that the Divestiture Assets can and will
be used by Acquirer as part of a viable,
ongoing business of providing IMS. The
divestiture, whether pursuant to Section
IV or Section VI of this Final Judgment,
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(1) shall be made to an Acquirer that,
in the United States’ sole judgment, has
the intent and capability (including the
necessary managerial, operational,
technical and financial capability) of
competing effectively in the business of
providing IMS; and
(2) shall be accomplished so as to
satisfy the United States, in its sole
discretion, that none of the terms of any
agreement between an Acquirer and
Defendants gives Defendants the ability
unreasonably to raise Acquirer’s costs,
to lower Acquirer’s efficiency, or
otherwise to interfere in the ability of
Acquirer to compete effectively.
V. OTHER REQUIRED CONDUCT
A. At the election of Acquirer,
Defendants and Acquirer shall enter
into a Transition Services Agreement for
a period of up to one (1) year from the
date of the divestiture. The Transition
Services Agreement shall enumerate all
the duties and services that Acquirer
requires of Defendants to support the
development, marketing, and sale of any
Divested Product. Defendants shall
perform all duties and provide any and
all services required of Defendants
under the Transition Services
Agreement. Any amendments,
modifications, or extensions of the
Transition Services Agreement may
only be entered into with the approval
of the United States, in its sole
discretion.
B. In order for Acquirer to continue to
have the uninterrupted ability to
transfer, receive, or otherwise exchange
content and other data between any
Divested Product and destinations, sites,
or other data sources controlled by
Defendants, including but not limited to
Manheim, AutoTrader, Kelly Blue Book
(KBB), and any Dealertrack solution or
database that prepares or stores data in
an aggregated, normalized, and
anonymized form, for three (3) years
following the date of the sale of the
Divestiture Assets, Defendants shall: (1)
provide to Acquirer for use in its IMS
business access to all such data sources
under their control that were accessed
by the Divestiture Assets as of August 1,
2015; and (2) allow Acquirer to provide
content or other data (such as
automotive listings) to any such
destination or site under their control to
which the Divestiture Assets provided
content or other data as of August 1,
2015. Defendants shall, upon receiving
a written request from Acquirer at least
thirty (30) calendar days before
expiration of the third year, continue to
provide the services covered by this
Section V.B for another one (1) year.
C. For any data or content subject to
Section V.B, Defendants shall provide
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for the exchange of such data or content
on the same terms that were applicable
to such data or content exchanges with
the Divestiture Assets as of August 1,
2015. Provided, however, that if
Defendants allow for the exchange of
any such data or content with any other
provider’s IMS (including any IMS of
Defendants) on terms (other than price)
that are more favorable than the terms
made available to Acquirer, Defendants
shall notify Acquirer of the more
favorable terms and Acquirer may elect
to exchange the data or content on those
terms. For the avoidance of doubt, the
following is a non-exhaustive list of
terms that may not be more favorable
than those that are made available to
Acquirer:
(1) speed and frequency of content
transmission;
(2) server lag time and/or uptime;
(3) database or API synchronization;
and
(4) data content or data fields
transmitted or utilized.
Provided, further, that this Section
V.C. does not require Defendants:
(1) To provide, or, if provided, to
refrain from charging any additional fee
for, any additional data fields that were
not accessed by the Divestiture Assets as
of August 1, 2015 and that Defendants
do not make commercially available to
any other third party; or
(2) to allow Acquirer to cache any
data that Cox prohibited Dealertrack
from caching in connection with the
operation or use of any Divested
Product as of August 1, 2015, and that
Defendants prohibit all other third
parties from caching.
D. For any data or content subject to
Section V.B, Defendants shall not
change except for good cause the format
of any data or content exchange
provided to Acquirer. For any such
change, Defendants shall provide
adequate notice for Acquirer to modify
its IMS products and any customer
installations to use the new data format
without disruption.
E. Defendants may require as a
condition of providing aggregated,
normalized, and anonymized data that
is covered by Section V.B that Acquirer
provide the same data the Divested
Product currently provides as an input
into the aggregated, normalized, and
anonymized data, if Acquirer is
permitted to provide its data under
terms that require Defendants to
preserve the confidentiality of
Acquirer’s data and not use Acquirer’s
data except in the aggregated,
normalized, and anonymized form.
F. In order for Acquirer to continue to
have the uninterrupted ability to
transfer, receive, or otherwise exchange
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a customer’s content and other data
between any Divested Product and the
customer’s other sites or solutions that
are provided or managed by Defendants,
and with which any Divested Product
exchanges data as of August 1, 2015
(‘‘Designated Sites or Solutions’’)
including but not limited to Dealer.com
Web sites and the Dealertrack DMS, for
three (3) years following the date of sale
of the Divestiture Assets, upon a
customer’s approval, Defendants shall
enable, at cost, the exchange of the
customer’s data and content between
Acquirer’s IMS products and any
Designated Sites or Solutions .
Defendants shall, upon receiving a
written request from Acquirer at least
thirty (30) calendar days before
expiration of the third year, continue to
provide the services covered by this
Section V.F for another one (1) year.
G. For any customer data or content
subject to Section V.F, Defendants shall
provide for the exchange of such data or
content on the same terms that were
applicable to such data or content
exchanges with the Divestiture Assets as
of August 1, 2015. Provided, however,
that if Defendants allow for the
exchange of any such data or content
with any other provider’s IMS
(including any IMS of Defendants) and
any of the Designated Sites or Solutions
on terms (other than price) that are more
favorable than the terms made available
to Acquirer, Defendants shall notify
Acquirer of the more favorable terms
and Acquirer may elect to exchange the
data or content on those terms. For the
avoidance of doubt, the following is a
non-exhaustive list of terms that may
not be more favorable than those that
are made available to Acquirer:
(1) Speed and frequency of content
transmission;
(2) server lag time and/or uptime;
(3) database or API synchronization;
and
(4) data content or data fields
transmitted or utilized.
H. Defendants may impose, with a
customer’s approval and as a condition
of enabling the exchange of the
customer’s data and content that is
covered by Section V.F, conditions that
are reasonably related to maintaining
the security, integrity and
confidentiality of the data, except that
Defendants may not impose conditions
that are materially less favorable than
the conditions under which Defendants
allow the exchange of a customer’s
content or data between any IMS owned
or controlled by Defendants and any of
the customer’s other solutions or sites
that are provided or managed by
Defendants.
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I. For any data or content subject to
Section V.F, Defendants shall not
change except for good cause the format
of any customer data or content
exchange. For any such change,
Defendants shall provide adequate
notice for Acquirer to modify its IMS
products and any customer installations
to use the new data format without
disruption.
J. Defendants shall take all reasonable
steps to cooperate with and assist
Acquirer in obtaining any third party
license or permission that may be
required for Defendants to convey,
license, sublicense, assign or otherwise
transfer to Acquirer rights in any of the
Divestiture Assets or in any data that
Defendants are required to provide to
Acquirer pursuant to this Section V.
K. Defendants are prohibited from
retaining a copy of, using, or offering for
sale any of the Divestiture Assets other
than those items provided to Acquirer
through a non-exclusive license, except
that Defendants may retain, use or sell
Dealertrack SmartChat® and the Broker
Connection access and interoperability
software.
L. Effective immediately upon
consummation of Cox’s acquisition of
control of Dealertrack, Defendants are
prohibited from taking any action that
would prevent Autodata from
immediately exercising any or all of the
following rights: (1) Acquiring a
majority interest in the ownership of
Chrome; (2) appointing the Chief
Executive Officer of Chrome; or (3)
appointing a third Director to the Board
of Directors of Chrome, each pursuant to
the change of control provisions of the
applicable Chrome Agreements (but
without requiring any of the specified
waiting periods); provided, however,
that Defendants may exercise any right
to contest the price that Autodata
proposes to pay to acquire a majority
interest in the ownership of Chrome, as
set forth in the applicable Chrome
Agreements.
M. Effective immediately upon
consummation of Cox’s acquisition of
control of Dealertrack, Defendants are
hereby enjoined from exercising any
rights with respect to the licensing or
pricing of Chrome Data to any actual or
prospective Chrome customer that
competes with Defendants. Provided,
however, that nothing in this Section
V.M shall prevent Defendants from: (i)
Engaging in discussions or negotiations
relating to the licensing of Chrome Data
to Defendants; or (ii) exercising any
rights that Defendants may hold to
prevent the renewal of any license that
is applicable to the use of Chrome Data
in the DMS of either CDK Global, Inc.
or The Reynolds and Reynolds
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Company (together with their respective
Affiliates, ‘‘CDK’’ and ‘‘Reynolds’’)
solely in the event that CDK or Reynolds
terminates, without reasonable cause, a
Defendant’s (or any of its Affiliates’)
ability to integrate its products with the
DMS of the company as to which the
nonrenewal would apply.
N. Effective immediately upon
consummation of Cox’s acquisition of
control of Dealertrack, Defendants are
hereby enjoined from reviewing,
receiving, obtaining, sharing, using, or
attempting to obtain, share, or use any
Competitively Sensitive Information,
other than (i) Competitively Sensitive
Information relating solely to
Defendants; (ii) Competitively Sensitive
Information relating solely to Chrome
customers with whom Defendants do
not compete; or (iii) information about
the existence and prospective renewal
of Chrome Data licensing agreements
with CDK or Reynolds solely to the
extent necessary to exercise Defendants’
rights in Section V.M.(ii). For the
avoidance of doubt, the following is a
non-exhaustive list of activities as to
which Defendants are enjoined:
(1) exercising any otherwise available
audit right for the purpose of, or which
would result in, Defendants obtaining
access to any such Competitively
Sensitive Information;
(2) participating in discussions or
meetings of the Board of Directors of
Chrome in which any such
Competitively Sensitive Information is
discussed or otherwise disclosed;
(3) requesting, obtaining, or reviewing
any portion of any business plan,
strategy, periodic report, or other
document in which any such
Competitively Sensitive Information is
included or otherwise disclosed; and
(4) sharing or using any such
Competitively Sensitive Information
obtained from, or otherwise disclosed
through or by, Chrome, whether
inadvertently disclosed or otherwise, for
any purpose whatsoever.
O. Defendants shall not acquire,
directly or indirectly, any additional
assets of or interest in Chrome, or any
owner of any interest in Chrome,
including Autodata, other than that
which Dealertrack owned as of August
1, 2015. If Autodata acquires a majority
ownership in Chrome, Defendants shall
take no action to increase, directly or
indirectly, their resulting minority
interest in Chrome. Nothing in this
Section V.O shall prohibit Defendants
from receiving a proportional or less
than proportional distribution of
Chrome equity securities in connection
with any equity distribution or any
future conversion of Chrome into a
corporation so long as Defendants’
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economic share in Chrome does not
increase as a result of such distribution.
P. Promptly after Cox’s acquisition of
control of Dealertrack, Defendants shall
use all reasonable efforts to amend or
otherwise change the Chrome
Agreements to incorporate into such
agreements all of the requirements in
Sections V.L through V.O. The required
amendments or changes shall: (i) be
acceptable to the United States, in its
sole discretion; (ii) have no expiration
date; and (iii) provide that they may not
be withdrawn, amended, or otherwise
changed without the consent of
Autodata and, prior to the expiration of
this Final Judgment, the United States.
Provided, however, that any such
amendments or changes to the Chrome
Agreements may be applicable only to
Defendants and may automatically
terminate upon Defendants’ sale of their
entire interest in Chrome.
VI. APPOINTMENT OF DIVESTITURE
TRUSTEE
A. If Defendants have not divested the
Divestiture Assets within the time
period specified in Section IV.A of this
Final Judgment, Defendants shall notify
the United States of that fact in writing.
Upon application of the United States,
the Court shall appoint a Divestiture
Trustee selected by the United States
and approved by the Court to effect the
divestiture of the Divestiture Assets.
B. After the appointment of a
Divestiture Trustee becomes effective,
only the Divestiture Trustee shall have
the right to sell the Divestiture Assets.
The Divestiture Trustee shall have the
power and authority to accomplish the
divestiture to an Acquirer acceptable to
the United States at such price and on
such terms as are then obtainable upon
reasonable effort by the Divestiture
Trustee, subject to the provisions of
Sections IV, VI and VII of this Final
Judgment, and shall have such other
powers as this Court deems appropriate.
Subject to Section VI.D. of this Final
Judgment, the Divestiture Trustee may
hire at the cost and expense of
Defendants any investment bankers,
attorneys, or other agents, who shall be
solely accountable to the Divestiture
Trustee, reasonably necessary in the
Divestiture Trustee’s judgment to assist
in the divestiture. Any such investment
bankers, attorneys, or other agents shall
serve on such terms and conditions as
the United States approves, including
confidentiality requirements and
conflict of interest certifications.
C. Defendants shall not object to a sale
by the Divestiture Trustee on any
ground other than the Divestiture
Trustee’s malfeasance. Any such
objections by Defendants must be
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conveyed in writing to the United States
and the Divestiture Trustee within ten
(10) calendar days after the Divestiture
Trustee has provided the notice
required under Section VII of this Final
Judgment.
D. The Divestiture Trustee shall serve
at the cost and expense of Defendants
pursuant to a written agreement, on
such terms and conditions as the United
States approves, including
confidentiality requirements and
conflict of interest certifications. The
Divestiture Trustee shall account for all
monies derived from the sale of the
assets sold by the Divestiture Trustee
and all costs and expenses so incurred.
After approval by the Court of the
Divestiture Trustee’s accounting,
including fees for its services yet unpaid
and those of any professionals and
agents retained by the Divestiture
Trustee, all remaining money shall be
paid to Defendants and the trust shall
then be terminated. The compensation
of the Divestiture Trustee and any
professionals and agents retained by the
Divestiture Trustee shall be reasonable
in light of the value of the Divestiture
Assets and based on a fee arrangement
providing the Divestiture Trustee with
an incentive based on the price and
terms of the divestiture and the speed
with which it is accomplished, but
timeliness is paramount. If the
Divestiture Trustee and Defendants are
unable to reach agreement on the
Divestiture Trustee’s or any agents’ or
consultants’ compensation or other
terms and conditions of engagement
within fourteen (14) calendar days of
appointment of the Divestiture Trustee,
the United States may, in its sole
discretion, take appropriate action,
including making a recommendation to
the Court. The Divestiture Trustee shall,
within three (3) business days of hiring
any other professionals or agents,
provide written notice of such hiring
and the rate of compensation to
Defendants and the United States.
E. Defendants shall use their best
efforts to assist the Divestiture Trustee
in accomplishing the required
divestiture. The Divestiture Trustee and
any consultants, accountants, attorneys,
and other agents retained by the
Divestiture Trustee shall have full and
complete access to the personnel, books,
records, and facilities of the business to
be divested, and Defendants shall
develop financial and other information
relevant to such business as the
Divestiture Trustee may reasonably
request, subject to reasonable protection
for trade secret or other confidential
research, development, or commercial
information or any applicable
privileges. Defendants shall take no
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action to interfere with or to impede the
Divestiture Trustee’s accomplishment of
the divestiture.
F. After its appointment, the
Divestiture Trustee shall file monthly
reports with the United States and, as
appropriate, the Court setting forth the
Divestiture Trustee’s efforts to
accomplish the divestiture ordered by
this Final Judgment. To the extent such
reports contain information that the
Divestiture Trustee deems confidential,
such reports shall not be filed in the
public docket of the Court. Such reports
shall include the name, address, and
telephone number of each Person who,
during the preceding month, made an
offer to acquire, expressed an interest in
acquiring, entered into negotiations to
acquire, or was contacted or made an
inquiry about acquiring, any interest in
the Divestiture Assets, and shall
describe in detail each contact with any
such Person. The Divestiture Trustee
shall maintain full records of all efforts
made to divest the Divestiture Assets.
G. If the Divestiture Trustee has not
accomplished the divestiture ordered
under this Final Judgment within six (6)
months after its appointment, the
Divestiture Trustee shall promptly file
with the Court a report setting forth (1)
the Divestiture Trustee’s efforts to
accomplish the required divestiture, (2)
the reasons, in the Divestiture Trustee’s
judgment, why the required divestiture
has not been accomplished, and (3) the
Divestiture Trustee’s recommendations.
To the extent such report contains
information that the Divestiture Trustee
deems confidential, such report shall
not be filed in the public docket of the
Court. The Divestiture Trustee shall at
the same time furnish such report to the
United States, which shall have the
right to make additional
recommendations consistent with the
purpose of the trust. The Court
thereafter shall enter such orders as it
shall deem appropriate to carry out the
purpose of this Final Judgment, which
may, if necessary, include extending the
trust and the term of the Divestiture
Trustee’s appointment by a period
requested by the United States.
H. If the United States determines that
the Divestiture Trustee has ceased to act
or failed to act diligently or in a
reasonably cost-effective manner, it may
recommend that the Court appoint a
substitute Divestiture Trustee.
VII. NOTICE OF PROPOSED
DIVESTITURE
A. Within two (2) business days
following execution of a definitive
divestiture agreement, Defendants or the
Divestiture Trustee, whichever is then
responsible for effecting the divestiture
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required herein, shall notify the United
States of any proposed divestiture
required by Section IV or VI of this
Final Judgment. If the Divestiture
Trustee is responsible, it shall similarly
notify Defendants. The notice shall set
forth the details of the proposed
divestiture and list the name, address,
and telephone number of each Person
not previously identified who offered or
expressed an interest in or desire to
acquire any ownership interest in the
Divestiture Assets, together with full
details of the same.
B. Within fifteen (15) calendar days of
receipt by the United States of such
notice, the United States may request
from Defendants, the proposed
Acquirer, any other third party, or the
Divestiture Trustee, if applicable,
additional information concerning the
proposed divestiture, the proposed
Acquirer, and any other potential
Acquirer. Defendants and the
Divestiture Trustee shall furnish any
additional information requested within
fifteen (15) calendar days of the receipt
of the request, unless the parties shall
otherwise agree.
C. Within thirty (30) calendar days
after receipt of the notice or within
twenty (20) calendar days after the
United States has been provided the
additional information requested from
Defendants, the proposed Acquirer, any
third party, and the Divestiture Trustee,
whichever is later, the United States
shall provide written notice to
Defendants and the Divestiture Trustee,
if there is one, stating whether or not it
objects to the proposed divestiture. If
the United States provides written
notice that it does not object, the
divestiture may be consummated,
subject only to Defendants’ limited right
to object to the sale under Section VI.C.
of this Final Judgment. Absent written
notice that the United States does not
object to the proposed Acquirer or upon
objection by the United States, a
divestiture proposed under Section IV
or Section V shall not be consummated.
Upon objection by Defendants under
Section VI.C., a divestiture proposed
under Section VI shall not be
consummated unless approved by the
Court.
VIII. FINANCING
Defendants shall not finance all or
any part of any purchase made pursuant
to Section IV or VI of this Final
Judgment.
IX. HOLD SEPARATE
Until the divestiture required by this
Final Judgment has been accomplished,
Defendants shall take all steps necessary
to comply with the Hold Separate
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61467
Stipulation and Order entered by this
Court. Defendants shall take no action
that would jeopardize the divestiture
ordered by this Court.
X. AFFIDAVITS
A. Within twenty (20) calendar days
of the filing of the Complaint in this
matter, and every thirty (30) calendar
days thereafter until the divestiture has
been completed under Section IV or VI,
Defendants shall deliver to the United
States an affidavit as to the fact and
manner of its compliance with Section
IV or VI of this Final Judgment. Each
such affidavit shall include the name,
address, and telephone number of each
Person who, during the preceding thirty
(30) calendar days, made an offer to
acquire, expressed an interest in
acquiring, entered into negotiations to
acquire, or was contacted or made an
inquiry about acquiring, any interest in
the Divestiture Assets, and shall
describe in detail each contact with any
such Person during that period. Each
such affidavit shall also include a
description of the efforts Defendants
have taken to solicit buyers for the
Divestiture Assets, and to provide
required information to prospective
Acquirers, including the limitations, if
any, on such information. Assuming the
information set forth in the affidavit is
true and complete, any objection by the
United States to information provided
by Defendants, including limitation on
information, shall be made within
fourteen (14) calendar days of receipt of
such affidavit.
B. Within twenty (20) calendar days
of the filing of the Complaint in this
matter, Defendants shall deliver to the
United States an affidavit that describes
in reasonable detail all actions
Defendants have taken and all steps
Defendants have implemented on an
ongoing basis to comply with Section IX
of this Final Judgment. Defendants shall
deliver to the United States an affidavit
describing any changes to the efforts
and actions outlined in Defendants’
earlier affidavits filed pursuant to this
section within fifteen (15) calendar days
after the change is implemented.
C. Defendants shall keep all records of
all efforts made to preserve and divest
the Divestiture Assets until one year
after such divestiture has been
completed.
XI. APPOINTMENT OF MONITORING
TRUSTEE
A. Upon application of the United
States, the Court shall appoint a
Monitoring Trustee selected by the
United States and approved by the
Court.
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B. The Monitoring Trustee shall have
the power and authority to monitor
Defendants’ compliance with the terms
of this Final Judgment and the Hold
Separate Stipulation and Order entered
by this Court, and shall have such other
powers as this Court deems appropriate.
The Monitoring Trustee shall be
required to investigate and report on the
Defendants’ compliance with this Final
Judgment and the Hold Separate
Stipulation and Order and the
Defendants’ progress toward
effectuating the purposes of this Final
Judgment, including but not limited to:
(1) Defendants’ compliance with the
terms of the Transition Services
Agreement; and
(2) Defendants’ compliance with the
terms listed in Section V, ‘‘Other
Required Conduct.’’
C. Subject to Section XI.E. of this
Final Judgment, the Monitoring Trustee
may hire at the cost and expense of
Defendants any consultants,
accountants, attorneys, or other agents,
who shall be solely accountable to the
Monitoring Trustee, reasonably
necessary in the Monitoring Trustee’s
judgment. Any such consultants,
accountants, attorneys, or other agents
shall serve on such terms and
conditions as the United States
approves, including confidentiality
requirements and conflict of interest
certifications.
D. Defendants shall not object to
actions taken by the Monitoring Trustee
in fulfillment of the Monitoring
Trustee’s responsibilities under any
Order of this Court on any ground other
than the Monitoring Trustee’s
malfeasance. Any such objections by
Defendants must be conveyed in writing
to the United States and the Monitoring
Trustee within ten (10) calendar days
after the action taken by the Monitoring
Trustee giving rise to the Defendants’
objection.
E. The Monitoring Trustee shall serve
at the cost and expense of Defendants
pursuant to a written agreement with
Defendants and on such terms and
conditions as the United States
approves including confidentiality
requirements and conflict of interest
certifications. The compensation of the
Monitoring Trustee and any consultants,
accountants, attorneys, and other agents
retained by the Monitoring Trustee shall
be on reasonable and customary terms
commensurate with the individuals’
experience and responsibilities. If the
Monitoring Trustee and Defendants are
unable to reach agreement on the
Monitoring Trustee’s or any agents’ or
consultants’ compensation or other
terms and conditions of engagement
within fourteen (14) calendar days of
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appointment of the Monitoring Trustee,
the United States may, in its sole
discretion, take appropriate action,
including making a recommendation to
the Court. The Monitoring Trustee shall,
within three (3) business days of hiring
any consultants, accountants, attorneys,
or other agents, provide written notice
of such hiring and the rate of
compensation to Defendants and the
United States.
F. The Monitoring Trustee shall have
no responsibility or obligation for the
operation of Defendants’ businesses.
G. Defendants shall use their best
efforts to assist the Monitoring Trustee
in monitoring Defendants’ compliance
with their individual obligations under
this Final Judgment and under the Hold
Separate Stipulation and Order. The
Monitoring Trustee and any consultants,
accountants, attorneys, and other agents
retained by the Monitoring Trustee shall
have full and complete access to the
personnel, books, records, and facilities
relating to compliance with this Final
Judgment, subject to reasonable
protection for trade secret or other
confidential research, development, or
commercial information or any
applicable privileges. Defendants shall
take no action to interfere with or to
impede the Monitoring Trustee’s
accomplishment of its responsibilities.
H. After its appointment, the
Monitoring Trustee shall file reports
quarterly, or more frequently as needed,
with the United States, and, as
appropriate, the Court setting forth
Defendants’ efforts to comply with its
obligations under this Final Judgment
and under the Hold Separate Stipulation
and Order. To the extent such reports
contain information that the Monitoring
Trustee deems confidential, such
reports shall not be filed in the public
docket of the Court.
I. The Monitoring Trustee shall serve
until the divestiture of all the
Divestiture Assets is finalized pursuant
to either Section IV or Section VI of this
Final Judgment and for so long as the
Defendant’s obligations outlined in
Section V persist.
J. If the United States determines that
the Monitoring Trustee has ceased to act
or failed to act diligently or in a
reasonably cost-effective manner, it may
recommend the Court appoint a
substitute Monitoring Trustee.
XII. COMPLIANCE INSPECTION
A. For the purposes of determining or
securing compliance with this Final
Judgment, or of any related orders such
as any Hold Separate or Asset
Preservation Order, or of determining
whether the Final Judgment should be
modified or vacated, and subject to any
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legally recognized privilege, from time
to time authorized representatives of the
United States Department of Justice,
including consultants and other persons
retained by the United States, shall,
upon written request of an authorized
representative of the Assistant Attorney
General in charge of the Antitrust
Division, and on reasonable notice to
Defendants, be permitted:
(1) access during Defendants’ office
hours to inspect and copy, or at the
option of the United States, to require
Defendants to provide hard copy or
electronic copies of, all books, ledgers,
accounts, records, data, and documents
in the possession, custody, or control of
Defendants, relating to any matters
contained in this Final Judgment; and
(2) to interview, either informally or
on the record, Defendants’ officers,
employees, or agents, who may have
their individual counsel present,
regarding such matters. The interviews
shall be subject to the reasonable
convenience of the interviewee and
without restraint or interference by
Defendants.
B. Upon the written request of an
authorized representative of the
Assistant Attorney General in charge of
the Antitrust Division, Defendants shall
submit written reports or response to
written interrogatories, under oath if
requested, relating to any of the matters
contained in this Final Judgment as may
be requested.
C. No information or documents
obtained by the means provided in this
Section XII shall be divulged by the
United States to any person other than
an authorized representative of the
executive branch of the United States,
except in the course of legal proceedings
to which the United States is a party
(including grand jury proceedings), or
for the purpose of securing compliance
with this Final Judgment, or as
otherwise required by law.
D. If at the time information or
documents are furnished by Defendants
to the United States, Defendants
represent and identify in writing the
material in any such information or
documents to which a claim of
protection may be asserted under Rule
26(c)(1)(G) of the Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure, and Defendants mark each
pertinent page of such material,
‘‘Subject to claim of protection under
Rule 26(c)(1)(G) of the Federal Rules of
Civil Procedure,’’ then the United States
shall give Defendants ten (10) calendar
days notice prior to divulging such
material in any legal proceeding (other
than a grand jury proceeding).
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XIII. NO REACQUISITION
Defendants may not reacquire any
part of the Divestiture Assets during the
term of this Final Judgment.
XIV. RETENTION OF JURISDICTION
This Court retains jurisdiction to
enable any party to this Final Judgment
to apply to this Court at any time for
further orders and directions as may be
necessary or appropriate to carry out or
construe this Final Judgment, to modify
any of its provisions, to enforce
compliance, and to punish violations of
its provisions.
XV. EXPIRATION OF FINAL
JUDGMENT
Unless this Court grants an extension,
this Final Judgment shall expire ten (10)
years from the date of its entry.
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XVI. PUBLIC INTEREST
DETERMINATION
Entry of this Final Judgment is in the
public interest. The parties have
complied with the requirements of the
Antitrust Procedures and Penalties Act,
15 U.S.C. 16, including making copies
available to the public of this Final
Judgment, the Competitive Impact
Statement, and any comments thereon
and the United States’ responses to
comments. Based upon the record
before the Court, which includes the
Competitive Impact Statement and any
comments and response to comments
filed with the Court, entry of this Final
Judgment is in the public interest.
Dated this l day oflll, 2015.
Court approval subject to procedures of
Antitrust Procedures and Penalties Act,
15 U.S.C. 16
llllllllllllllllll
l
United States District Judge
SCHEDULE A
List of products and functionality
included in ‘‘Divested Product,’’ as
defined in Section II.L of this Final
Judgment:
Dealertrack eCarList®;
Dealertrack AAX®;
Inventory+;
InventoryPro;
PriceDriver;
TrueTarget® (including TrueTarget®
Appraisal and TrueTarget® Pricing
Reports);
TrueTarget® Mobile;
Inventory+Mobile (including Inventory+
for iPhone® and Android);
Inventory Management Stocking and
Sourcing;
TrueScore;
Inventory+ Appraisal Workflow;
Inventory+ Merchandising;
AutoInk and eBay Listing and
Merchandising Tools (including
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integrated AutoInk description writer
and direct distribution to leading Web
sites such as backpage.com, Craigslist,
eBay Motors);
Dealer Web sites (eCarList only);
Dealertrack AutoReel® with
TruVoiceTM;
Inventory+ integrated, ‘‘multi-site’’ lead
Management system (including Email
Lead Management);
Dealertrack Interactive Automated
Incentives;
OutClickTM;
Inventory Health Report;
Lot Services;
PROShots;
Inventory+ New Car Pricing;
Dealertrack Inventory+ integration;
Inventory+ Multiplatform Listing;
Appraisal Central;
GroupTrade;
Software code for Inventory+ Exchange
(including Social Trade and
OpenTrade) and its predecessor
Dealertrack Marketplace;
Ability to enable Dealertrack
SmartChat® reporting within
Inventory+ for customers who have
both Inventory+ and SmartChat®; and
Fully integrated access and
interoperability with Broker
Connection.
[FR Doc. 2015–26042 Filed 10–9–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P
61469
consistent with the public interest and
with United States obligations under
international treaties, conventions, or
protocols in effect on May 1, 1971. The
DEA investigated the company’s
maintenance of effective controls
against diversion by inspecting and
testing the company’s physical security
systems, verifying the company’s
compliance with state and local laws,
and reviewing the company’s
background and history.
Therefore, pursuant to 21 U.S.C.
952(a) and 958(a), and in accordance
with 21 CFR 1301.34, the above-named
company is granted registration as an
importer of methylphenidate (1724), a
basic class of controlled substance listed
in schedule II.
The company plans to import the
listed substance as a raw material for
updated testing purposes for EU
customer requirements.
The company plans to import the
listed controlled substances in finished
dosage form (FDF) from foreign sources
for analytical testing and clinical trials
in which the foreign FDF will be
compared to the company’s own
domestically-manufactured FDF. This
analysis is required to allow the
company to export domesticallymanufactured FDF to foreign markets.
Dated: October 2, 2015.
Louis J. Milione,
Deputy Assistant Administrator.
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
[FR Doc. 2015–25881 Filed 10–9–15; 8:45 am]
Drug Enforcement Administration
BILLING CODE 4410–09–P
[Docket No. DEA–392]
Importer of Controlled Substances
Registration: Unither Manufacturing,
LLC
ACTION:
Unither Manufacturing, LLC
applied to be registered as an importer
of a certain basic class of controlled
substance. The Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA) grants Unither
Manufacturing, LLC registration as an
importer of this controlled substance.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: By notice
dated April 14, 2015, and published in
the Federal Register on April 22, 2015,
80 FR 22552, Unither Manufacturing,
LLC, 331 Clay Road, Rochester, New
York 14623 applied to be registered as
an importer of a certain basic class of
controlled substance. No comments or
objections were submitted for this
notice.
The DEA has considered the factors in
21 U.S.C. 823, 952(a) and 958(a) and
determined that the registration of
Unither Manufacturing, LLC to import
the basic class of controlled substance is
PO 00000
Frm 00136
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Drug Enforcement Administration
[Docket No. DEA–392]
Notice of registration.
SUMMARY:
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Bulk Manufacturer of Controlled
Substances Application: American
Radiolabeled Chemicals, Inc.
ACTION:
Notice of application.
Registered bulk manufacturers of
the affected basic classes, and
applicants therefore, may file written
comments on or objections to the
issuance of the proposed registration in
accordance with 21 CFR 1301.33(a) on
or before December 14, 2015.
ADDRESSES: Written comments should
be sent to: Drug Enforcement
Administration, Attention: DEA Federal
Register Representative/ODXL, 8701
Morrissette Drive, Springfield, Virginia
22152. Request for hearings should be
sent to: Drug Enforcement
Administration, Attention: Hearing
Clerk/LJ, 8701 Morrissette Drive,
Springfield, Virginia 22152.
DATES:
E:\FR\FM\13OCN1.SGM
13OCN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 197 (Tuesday, October 13, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61454-61469]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-26042]
=======================================================================
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Antitrust Division
United States v. Cox Enterprises, Inc. et al.; Proposed Final
Judgment and Competitive Impact Statement
Notice is hereby given pursuant to the Antitrust Procedures and
Penalties Act, 15 U.S.C. 16(b)-(h), that a proposed Final Judgment,
Hold Separate Stipulation and Order, and Competitive Impact Statement
have been filed with the United States District Court for the District
of Columbia in United States of America v. Cox Enterprises, Inc., et
al., Civil Action No. 1:15-cv-01583 (TFH). On September 29, 2015, the
United States filed a Complaint alleging that Cox Automotive's proposed
acquisition of Dealertrack Technologies, Inc.'s automobile dealership
inventory management solution (IMS) business would violate Section 7 of
the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. Sec. 18. The proposed Final Judgment, filed
at the same time as the Complaint, requires Defendants to divest
Dealertrack's IMS business to DealerSocket, Inc. or to another buyer
approved by the United States. The proposed Final Judgment also: (1)
Requires Defendants to enable the continuing exchange of data and
content between the divested IMS business and other data sources,
Internet sites, and automotive solutions that they control; and (2)
prevents Defendants from unreasonably using their ownership interest in
Chrome Data Solutions, LP, a company that compiles and licenses vehicle
information data used by IMSs and other solutions and Web sites.
Copies of the Complaint, proposed Final Judgment, and Competitive
Impact Statement are available for inspection on the Antitrust
Division's Web site at https://www.justice.gov/atr and at the Office of
the Clerk of the United States District Court for the District of
Columbia. Copies of these materials may be obtained from the Antitrust
Division upon request and payment of the copying fee set by Department
of Justice regulations.
Public comment is invited within 60 days of the date of this
notice. Such comments, including the name of the submitter, and
responses thereto, will be posted on the Antitrust Division's Web site,
filed with the Court, and, under certain circumstances, published in
the Federal Register. Comments should be directed to James J. Tierney,
Chief, Networks &Technology Enforcement Section, Antitrust Division,
Department of Justice, 450 Fifth Street NW., Suite 7100, Washington, DC
0530 (telephone: 202-307-6200).
Patricia A. Brink,
Director of Civil Enforcement.
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust
Division, 450 Fifth Street NW., Suite 7100, Washington, DC 20530,
Plaintiff, v. COX ENTERPRISES, INC., 6205 Peachtree Dunwoody Road,
Atlanta, GA 30328, COX AUTOMOTIVE, INC., 3003 Summit Blvd., Suite 200,
Atlanta, GA 30319, and DEALERTRACK TECHNOLOGIES, INC., 1111 Marcus Ave,
Suite M04, Lake Success, NY 11042,Defendants.
Case No. 1:15-cv-01583
Judge: Thomas F. Hogan
Description: Antitrust
Filed: September 29, 2015
COMPLAINT
The United States of America, acting under the direction of the
Attorney General of the United States, brings this civil action to
enjoin the proposed acquisition by Defendants Cox Enterprises, Inc. and
Cox Automotive, Inc. (collectively, ``Cox'') of Defendant Dealertrack
Technologies, Inc. (``Dealertrack''). The United States alleges as
follows:
[[Page 61455]]
I. NATURE OF THE ACTION
1. Cox intends to acquire all of the outstanding shares of common
stock of Dealertrack through a cash tender offer totaling approximately
$4 billion. Cox and Dealertrack are both leading providers of automated
solutions and marketing services to the automotive industry, and are
significant direct competitors in the development, marketing, and sale
of inventory management solutions (``IMSs'') to automotive dealerships
in the United States.
2. Cox and Dealertrack are the two leading providers of full-
featured IMSs that are employed primarily for inventory management in
the used vehicle businesses of larger automotive dealerships,
particularly those that operate franchises associated with new vehicle
original equipment manufacturers (``OEMs''). The IMSs of Cox and
Dealertrack participate in a market with only four significant
competitors. The two firms compete head-to-head in the development,
marketing, and sale of their respective IMSs. Cox's proposed
acquisition of Dealertrack would eliminate this competition, resulting
in higher prices and lower quality for dealership consumers.
3. Accordingly, the transaction is likely to substantially lessen
competition in the provision of full-featured IMSs in the United
States, in violation of Section 7 of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. Sec.
18, and should be enjoined.
II. JURISDICTION, VENUE, AND INTERSTATE COMMERCE
4. The United States brings this action under Section 15 of the
Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. Sec. 25, to prevent and restrain Defendants
from violating Section 7 of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. Sec. 18. This
Court has subject-matter jurisdiction over this action under Section 15
of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. Sec. 25, and 28 U.S.C. Sec. Sec. 1331,
1337(a), and 1345.
5. Defendants market, sell, operate, and service their products,
including their IMSs, throughout the United States and regularly and
continuously transact business and transmit data in connection with
these activities in the flow of interstate commerce, which has a
substantial effect upon interstate commerce.
6. Defendants consent to personal jurisdiction and venue in this
district. This Court has personal jurisdiction over each Defendant and
venue is proper under Section 12 of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. Sec.
22, and 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1391(b) and (c).
III. DEFENDANTS AND THE PROPOSED ACQUISITION
7. Cox Enterprises, Inc., and its subsidiary, Cox Automotive, Inc.,
are both Delaware corporations headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Cox
develops and sells a diverse portfolio of automated solutions and
services for automotive dealers and consumers, including vAuto, a full-
featured IMS. The total annual net revenue of Cox's automotive
businesses in 2014 was approximately $4.9 billion. Its U.S. IMS revenue
was a relatively small part of its total revenue.
8. Dealertrack Technologies, Inc. is a Delaware corporation
headquartered in Lake Success, New York. Dealertrack develops and sells
a variety of automated solutions and services for automotive dealers,
including Inventory+, a full-featured IMS that combines the
functionality from two IMSs that Dealertrack acquired--AAX and
eCarList. Dealertrack's total annual net revenue in 2014 was
approximately $854 million. Its U.S. IMS revenue was a relatively small
part of its total revenue. Dealertrack also owns a 50% interest in
Chrome Data Solutions, LP (``Chrome''), a company that compiles and
licenses vehicle information data. The remaining 50% interest in Chrome
is owned by Autodata Solutions, Inc. and Autodata Solutions Company
(collectively, ``Autodata'').
9. On June 12, 2015, Cox Automotive and Dealertrack entered into an
Agreement and Plan of Merger whereby Cox agreed to commence a cash
tender offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Dealertrack
for $63.25 per share, for a total of approximately $4 billion.
IV. THE RELEVANT MARKET
A. Industry Background
10. In the United States, new and used vehicles are typically sold
to consumers through automotive dealerships. A dealership may be
``franchised,'' meaning it is associated with an OEM, or
``independent'' of any association with an OEM. New vehicles are
acquired by franchised dealers directly from OEMs and resold to
consumers. Used vehicles are purchased or otherwise acquired (often
through trade-ins) by franchised or independent dealers and then sold
to consumers or at wholesale (often at auction). A dealer may have more
than one physical store (or ``rooftop'') and franchised dealers may be
associated with more than one OEM. The type of automated products and
services that a dealer uses to manage its business often depends on its
size, its level of sophistication, and whether it is franchised or
independent.
11. Most franchised and larger independent dealers rely on dealer
management systems (``DMSs'') to manage the primary functions of their
businesses, including sales, finance, accounting, service, parts, and
personnel. The DMS is the central repository for a large amount of data
about the dealer's day-to-day business activities. IMSs are a type of
``point'' solution that offer enhanced functionality that is not
provided in the DMS. IMSs communicate and share data with the dealer's
DMS and other point solutions.
12. Full-featured IMSs traditionally have been used to assist
dealers in managing their used vehicle inventories, although the
leading IMSs increasingly offer extended functionality to manage new
vehicle inventories. A full-featured IMS uses algorithms and
sophisticated analytics to help dealers: (1) optimize their
inventories; (2) appraise the value of vehicles they want to acquire;
(3) set prices for vehicles they want to sell; (4) publish listings of
vehicles that they have for sale; and (5) run detailed reports and
analytics on vehicle and dealership performance relative to other
vehicles and dealerships. This combination of automated analytics,
reporting, optimization, pricing, and merchandising enables dealers
using full-featured IMSs to operate their businesses more efficiently
and to increase the rate at which they sell vehicles (``inventory
turns'') and their overall profitability.
13. To perform the functionality described above, a full-featured
IMS must be able to exchange data and communicate with other automated
solutions. The performance and competitive viability of a full-featured
IMS depends on the breadth and quality of its data.
14. A full-featured IMS obtains data about the dealer's current
inventory and vehicle sales history from its DMS and provides the DMS
with new or updated information, such as new or changed vehicle prices.
A full-featured IMS collects a large amount of wholesale and retail
pricing data, which may include data from auction services, book value
guides, vehicle history reports, and online listings. It may also
collect indicators of consumer interest in a particular vehicle, such
as click data relating to consumers' online browsing activities.
Further, a full-featured IMS prepares and distributes vehicle listings
to the dealer's Web site and third-party vehicle retail sites.
15. Defendants own or otherwise control access to many of the most
[[Page 61456]]
important data sources and destinations for full-featured IMSs. Cox's
Manheim Market Report is the most comprehensive and widely used source
of data from auction services. With AutoTrader, Cox controls the
leading online solution for buying and selling new and used vehicles.
With Kelly Blue Book, Cox controls the most widely used consumer-facing
book value guide. With Dealer.com, Dealertrack manages the majority of
franchised dealer Web sites. With its DMS, Dealertrack manages
inventory and transaction data for a significant number of franchised
dealers. As described above, Dealertrack also owns 50% of Chrome, which
is the primary source of vehicle-specific data relied upon by full-
featured IMSs, DMSs, and many other point solutions and Web sites.
16. To operate efficiently, a full-featured IMS must access and be
able to transmit and receive data about specific vehicles with other
automated solutions. This vehicle-specific data includes, but is much
broader than, information about the year, make, model, engine, plant
location, and country of origin of a vehicle that is encoded in the 17-
digit vehicle identification number (``VIN''). A full-featured IMS also
relies on many additional categories of vehicle-specific data, such as
editorial content, stock images, stock videos, ordering guide pricing
data, OEM features and specifications data, configuration data, factory
service schedule data, accessories data, warranty information, OEM new
vehicle rebates and incentives data, and OEM build data (the ``as
built'' equipment manifest and pricing data). Chrome is the leading
provider of this vehicle-specific information, and Chrome offers
significantly more vehicle data than any other supplier.
17. Every full-featured IMS relies on Chrome data, as do most other
automotive solutions and Web sites with which IMSs exchange vehicle
data. Chrome has become a de facto standard that these solutions and
Web sites employ to enable the efficient exchange of information about
specific vehicles. Incorporation of Chrome data into most major
automotive solutions has resulted in significant network efficiencies.
B. Relevant Product Market
18. A hypothetical monopolist of full-featured IMSs profitably
could increase its prices by at least a small but significant and non-
transitory amount. Full-featured IMSs are most frequently used by large
franchised and independent dealers. These dealers generally have larger
information technology budgets, make more decisions centrally, and have
more complex operating requirements than smaller dealers due to larger
vehicle inventories, higher inventory turns, and more rooftops. They
are therefore more dependent on robust, integrated automated solutions
to effectively manage their businesses. Although some other solutions
offer dealers certain aspects of inventory management functionality,
they are less comprehensive and less robust than full-featured IMSs.
These solutions are used primarily by smaller dealers and are not
meaningful alternatives to full-featured IMSs. Accordingly, full-
featured IMSs constitute a relevant product market and line of commerce
for purposes of analyzing the likely competitive effects of the
proposed acquisition under Section 7 of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C.
Sec. 18.
C. Relevant Geographic Market
19. Defendants market and sell IMSs to dealerships located across
the United States, and customers do not differentiate between IMSs on
the basis of location. A hypothetical monopolist of full-featured IMSs
profitably could increase its prices to dealers in the United States by
a small but significant and non-transitory amount. Accordingly, the
United States is a relevant geographic market for purposes of analyzing
the likely competitive effects of the proposed acquisition under
Section 7 of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. Sec. 18.
V. ANTICOMPETITIVE EFFECTS OF THE PROPOSED ACQUISITION
20. Cox and Dealertrack are the two leading providers of full-
featured IMSs. Cox is the market leader, with a market share of
approximately 60%. Dealertrack is the second leading provider with a
market share of approximately 26%. Cox's proposed acquisition of
Dealertrack would enable the merged firm to control approximately 86%
of full-featured IMS sales.
21. Market concentration is often a useful indicator of the level
of competitive vigor in a market and the likely competitive effects of
a merger. The more concentrated a market, and the more a transaction
would increase that concentration, the more likely it is that the
transaction would result in reduced competition, harming consumers.
Market concentration commonly is measured by the Herfindahl-Hirschman
Index (``HHI''), as discussed in Appendix A. Markets in which the HHI
exceeds 2,500 points are considered highly concentrated, and
transactions that increase the HHI by more than 200 points in highly
concentrated markets are presumed likely to enhance market power. Here,
the proposed acquisition would substantially increase market
concentration in a highly concentrated market, raising the HHI by
approximately 3120 points to a post-acquisition HHI of approximately
7526 points.
22. Cox and Dealertrack currently compete head-to-head and their
IMSs are close substitutes. Cox's proposed acquisition of Dealertrack
would eliminate this competition and further concentrate a market that
is already highly concentrated. As a result, Cox would emerge as the
clearly dominant provider of full-featured IMSs with the ability to
exercise substantial market power, thereby increasing the likelihood
that Cox could unilaterally increase prices or reduce its investment or
other efforts to improve the quality of its products and services.
Moreover, with the acquisition of Dealertrack, Cox would acquire an
ownership interest in Chrome that could enable Cox to deny or restrict
access to Chrome data and thereby unilaterally undermine the
competitive viability of Cox's remaining IMS competitors.
VI. ABSENCE OF COUNTERVAILING FACTORS
23. It is unlikely that any firm would enter the relevant product
and geographic markets alleged herein in a timely manner sufficient to
defeat the likely anticompetitive effects of the proposed acquisition.
Successful entry in the development, marketing, operation, and sale of
a full-featured IMS to dealers in the United States is difficult, time-
consuming, and costly.
24. Any new entrant would be required to expend significant time
and capital to design and develop an automated solution with
functionality that is at least comparable to the Defendants' full-
featured IMSs, including developing robust algorithms that could
accurately source, price, and market a dealer's vehicles. Successful
entry would also require a substantial effort in identifying and
obtaining access to the data sources necessary to power the IMS
algorithms, and significant payments for such data and for access to
the interfaces necessary to allow the IMS to work with a dealer's DMS
and other automated solutions. In particular, it is unlikely that any
such effort would produce an economically viable alternative to Chrome
data in the near future.
[[Page 61457]]
VII. VIOLATION ALLEGED
25. The United States incorporates the allegations of paragraphs 1
through 24 above.
26. The proposed acquisition of Dealertrack by Cox is likely to
substantially lessen competition for full-featured IMSs in the United
States in violation of Section 7 of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. Sec.
18.
27. Unless enjoined, the proposed acquisition likely will have the
following anticompetitive effects, among others:
(a) actual and potential competition between Cox and Dealertrack in
the development, marketing, and sale of IMSs in the United States will
be eliminated;
(b) competition in the development, marketing, and sale of IMSs in
general will be substantially lessened;
(c) prices of IMSs will increase;
(d) improvements or upgrades to the quality or functionality of
IMSs will be less frequent and less substantial; and
(e) the quality of service for IMSs will decline.
VIII. REQUEST FOR RELIEF
28. The United States requests that this Court:
(a) adjudge and decree that Cox's proposed acquisition of
Dealertrack would be unlawful and would violate Section 7 of the
Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. 18;
(b) permanently enjoin and restrain Defendants and all persons
acting on their behalf from carrying out the Agreement and Plan of
Merger dated June 12, 2015, or from entering into or carrying out any
other contract, agreement, plan, or understanding to combine Cox with
Dealertrack;
(c) award the United States its costs for this action; and
(d) award the United States such other and further relief as this
Court deems just and proper.
Dated: September 29, 2015
Respectfully submitted,
FOR PLAINTIFF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
William J. Baer (DC Bar #324723)
Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust
Renata B. Hesse (DC Bar #466107)
Deputy Assistant Attorney General
Patricia A. Brink
Director of Civil Enforcement
James J. Tierney (DC Bar #434610)
Chief, Networks & Technology Enforcement Section
Aaron Hoag
Matthew Hammond
Assistant Chiefs, Networks & Technology Enforcement Section
Ian D. Hoffman
Kent Brown
John C. Filippini (DC Bar #165159)
Patricia L. Sindel (DC Bar #997505)
Trial Attorneys, Networks & Technology Enforcement Section
Antitrust Division
U.S. Department of Justice
450 Fifth Street NW., Suite 7100
Washington, DC 20530
Phone: (202) 598-2456
Facsimile: (202) 616-8544
Email: ian.hoffman@atr.usdoj.gov
APPENDIX A
Herfindahl-Hirschman Index
The term ``HHI'' means the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index, a commonly
accepted measure of market concentration. The HHI is calculated by
squaring the market share of each firm competing in the relevant market
and then summing the resulting numbers. For example, for a market
consisting of four firms with shares of 30, 30, 20, and 20 percent, the
HHI is 2,600 (30\2\ + 30\2\ + 20\2\ + 20\2\ = 2,600). The HHI takes
into account the relative size distribution of the firms in a market.
It approaches zero when a market is occupied by a large number of firms
of relatively equal size, and reaches its maximum of 10,000 points when
a market is controlled by a single firm. The HHI increases both as the
number of firms in the market decreases and as the disparity in size
between those firms increases.
Markets in which the HHI is between 1,500 and 2,500 points are
considered to be moderately concentrated, and markets in which the HHI
is in excess of 2,500 points are considered to be highly concentrated.
See U.S. Department of Justice & Federal Trade Commission, Horizontal
Merger Guidelines Sec. 5.3 (2010) (``Guidelines''). Transactions that
increase the HHI by more than 200 points in highly concentrated markets
presumptively raise antitrust concerns under the Guidelines. Id.
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Plaintiff, v. COX ENTERPRISES, INC., COX
AUTOMOTIVE, INC., and DEALERTRACK TECHNOLOGIES, INC. Defendants.
Case No. 1:15-cv-01583
Judge: Thomas F. Hogan
Description: Antitrust
Filed: September 29, 2015
COMPETITIVE IMPACT STATEMENT
Plaintiff United States of America (``United States''), pursuant to
Section 2(b) of the Antitrust Procedures and Penalties Act (``APPA'' or
``Tunney Act''), 15 U.S.C. 16(b)-(h), files this Competitive Impact
Statement relating to the proposed Final Judgment submitted for entry
in this civil antitrust proceeding.
I. NATURE AND PURPOSE OF THE PROCEEDING
On June 12, 2015, Defendant Cox Automotive, Inc., a subsidiary of
Defendant Cox Enterprises, Inc. (collectively ``Cox''), and Defendant
Dealertrack Technologies, Inc. (``Dealertrack'') entered into an
Agreement and Plan of Merger whereby Cox agreed to commence a cash
tender offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Dealertrack
for $63.25 per share, for a total of approximately $4 billion. The
United States filed a civil antitrust Complaint on September 29, 2015,
seeking to enjoin the proposed acquisition. The Complaint alleges that
the likely effect of this acquisition would be to lessen competition
substantially for the development, marketing, and sale of full-featured
inventory management solutions (``IMSs'') in the United States in
violation of Section 7 of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. 18. This loss of
competition likely would result in higher prices and lower quality for
dealership consumers.
At the same time the Complaint was filed, the United States also
filed a proposed Final Judgment and Hold Separate Stipulation and Order
(``Hold Separate''), which are designed to prevent the alleged
anticompetitive effects of the acquisition. Under the proposed Final
Judgment, which is explained more fully below, Defendants are required:
(1) to divest to DealerSocket, Inc., or to another Acquirer that is
acceptable to the United States, all of Dealertrack's interest in its
IMS products and related assets; (2) to provide short-term transition
services and support to enable the Acquirer to operate the divested
assets without any disruption as of the date of the divestiture; (3) to
permit for up to four years the continuing exchange of data and content
between the divested assets and other data sources, Internet sites, and
automotive solutions that are owned, controlled, provided, or managed
by Defendants; and (4) to undertake various obligations to prevent
Defendants from exploiting Dealertrack's interest in Chrome Data
Solutions, LP. (``Chrome''). The parties have submitted a proposed
agreement to sell the divestiture assets to DealerSocket, which is
currently under review by the United States.
[[Page 61458]]
Under the terms of the Hold Separate, Defendants will take certain
steps to ensure that the assets to be divested are operated as a
competitively independent, economically viable, and ongoing business
concern that will remain independent and uninfluenced by the
consummation of the acquisition, and that competition is maintained
during the pendency of the ordered divestiture.
The United States and Defendants have stipulated that the proposed
Final Judgment may be entered after compliance with the APPA, and the
Hold Separate provides that Defendants will comply with the terms of
the proposed Final Judgment pending its entry. Entry of the proposed
Final Judgment would terminate this action, except that the Court would
retain jurisdiction to construe, modify, or enforce the provisions of
the proposed Final Judgment and to punish violations thereof.
II. DESCRIPTION OF THE EVENTS GIVING RISE TO THE ALLEGED VIOLATION
A. Defendants and the Proposed Transaction
Cox Automotive, Inc. and Cox Enterprises, Inc. are privately-held
Delaware corporations, with their headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. The
automotive products managed by Cox encompass a broad portfolio of
automated solutions and services for automotive dealers and consumers,
including vAuto, a full-featured IMS. Cox's total annual automotive
revenue in 2014 was about $4.9 billion, of which its U.S. IMS revenue
was a small part.
Dealertrack is a Delaware corporation with its headquarters in Lake
Success, New York. Dealertrack develops and sells a variety of
automated solutions and services for automotive dealers, including
Inventory+, a full-featured IMS that combines the functionality from
two IMSs that Dealertrack acquired--AAX and eCarList. Dealertrack's
total annual revenue in 2014 was about $854 million, of which its U.S.
IMS revenue was a small part. Dealertrack also owns a 50% interest in
Chrome, a company that compiles and licenses vehicle information data
for use in IMSs and other automated solutions and services for the
automotive industry. The remaining 50% interest in Chrome is owned by
Autodata Solutions, Inc. and Autodata Solutions Company (collectively,
``Autodata'').
Cox's proposed acquisition of Dealertrack would lessen competition
substantially in the development, marketing, and sale of full-featured
IMSs in the United States. The acquisition is the subject of the
Complaint and proposed Final Judgment filed by the United States on
September 29, 2015.
B. The Competitive Effects of the Transaction on IMSs in the United
States
1. Automotive Dealerships and IMSs
In the United States, new and used vehicles are typically sold to
consumers through automotive dealerships. A dealership may be
``franchised,'' meaning it is associated with an original equipment
manufacturer (``OEM''), or ``independent'' of any association with an
OEM. New vehicles are acquired by franchised dealers directly from OEMs
and resold to consumers. Used vehicles are purchased or otherwise
acquired (often through trade-ins) by franchised or independent dealers
and then sold to consumers or at wholesale (often at auction). A dealer
may have more than one physical store (or ``rooftop'') and franchised
dealers may be associated with more than one OEM. The type of automated
products and services that a dealer uses to manage its business often
depends on its size, its level of sophistication, and whether it is
franchised or independent.
Most large franchised and independent dealers rely on dealer
management systems (``DMSs'') to manage the primary functions of their
businesses, including sales, finance, accounting, service, parts, and
personnel. The DMS is the central repository for a large amount of data
about the dealer's day-to-day business activities. IMSs are a type of
``point'' solution that a dealer may use to obtain enhanced
functionality that is not provided in its DMS. IMSs communicate and
share data with the dealer's DMS and other point solutions.
Full-featured IMSs have traditionally been used to assist dealers
in managing their used vehicle inventory, although the leading IMSs
increasingly offer extended functionality to manage new vehicle
inventories. A full-featured IMS uses algorithms and sophisticated
analytics to help dealers: (1) Optimize their inventories; (2) appraise
the value of vehicles they want to acquire; (3) set prices for vehicles
they want to sell; (4) publish listings of vehicles that they have for
sale; and (5) run detailed reports and analytics on vehicle and
dealership performance relative to other vehicles and dealerships. This
combination of automated analytics, reporting, optimization, pricing,
and merchandising enables dealers using full-featured IMSs to operate
their used vehicle businesses more efficiently and to increase the rate
at which they sell vehicles (``inventory turns'') and their overall
profitability.
2. IMS Data Exchange Requirements and Sources
To perform the functionality described above, a full-featured IMS
must be able to exchange data and communicate with other automated
solutions. The performance and competitive viability of a full-featured
IMS depends on the breadth and quality of its data sets.
To optimize a dealer's inventory, a full-featured IMS obtains data
about the dealer's current inventory from its DMS and analyzes it
against certain benchmarks. The IMS recommends vehicles that the dealer
should add to its inventory and identifies and scores the desirability
of vehicles that are available for acquisition, thereby allowing
dealers to pick the fastest-selling or most profitable vehicles. It
also identifies vehicles in inventory that are not selling well and
recommends actions the dealer should take to price or dispose of those
vehicles.
To appraise and price a vehicle, a full-featured IMS collects,
aggregates, and analyzes a large amount of wholesale and retail pricing
data, which may include data from auction services, book value guides,
vehicle history reports, and online listings, as well as historical
data from the DMS relating to transactions involving other similar
vehicles. A full-featured IMS uses this data to provide the dealer with
a view of the current competitive landscape for a vehicle, including
suggested prices for meeting various objectives the dealer may have for
the sale of the vehicle. In addition, a full-featured IMS may provide
an indication of consumer interest in a particular vehicle, based on an
analysis of when the current inventory of similar vehicles in an area
will be exhausted or click data relating to consumers' online browsing
activities.
A full-featured IMS also automates the online merchandising of a
vehicle by preparing online postings with vehicle descriptions and
uploading the vehicle listings, together with photos and marketing
descriptions, to the dealer's Web site and third-party vehicle retail
sites. These tools save time by providing dealers access to multiple
sites through a single platform and allowing them to create effective,
professional vehicle listings that are consistent across multiple Web
sites.
Defendants own or otherwise control access to many significant data
sources and destinations for full-featured IMSs.
[[Page 61459]]
Cox's Manheim Market Report is the most comprehensive and widely used
source of data from auction services. With AutoTrader, Cox controls the
leading online solution for buying and selling new and used vehicles.
With Kelly Blue Book, Cox controls the most widely used consumer-facing
vehicle book value guide. With Dealer.com, Dealertrack manages the
majority of franchised dealer Web sites. With its DMS, Dealertrack
manages the inventory and transaction data for a significant number of
franchised dealers. As described above, Dealertrack also owns 50% of
Chrome, which is the primary source of vehicle-specific data relied
upon by full-featured IMSs, DMSs, and many other point solutions and
Web sites.
To operate efficiently, a full-featured IMS must access and
communicate data about specific vehicles with other automated
solutions. This vehicle-specific data includes, but is much broader
than, information about the year, make, model, engine, plant location,
and country of origin of a vehicle that is encoded in the 17-digit
vehicle identification number (``VIN''). A full-featured IMS also
relies on many additional categories of vehicle-specific data, such as
editorial content, stock images, stock videos, ordering guide pricing
data, OEM features and specifications data, configuration data, factory
service schedule data, accessories data, warranty information, OEM new
vehicle rebates and incentives data, and OEM build data (the ``as
built'' equipment manifest and pricing data). Chrome is the leading
provider of this vehicle-specific information, and Chrome offers
significantly more vehicle data than any other supplier
Every full-featured IMS relies on Chrome data, as do most other
automotive solutions and Web sites with which the IMSs exchange
information about specific vehicles. Indeed, Chrome has become the de
facto standard that these solutions and Web sites employ to enable the
efficient exchange of information about specific vehicles.
Incorporation of Chrome data into most major automotive solutions has
resulted in significant network efficiencies.
3. Market Structure and Competitive Effects
Full-featured IMSs are most frequently used by large franchised and
independent dealers. These dealers generally have larger IT budgets,
make more decisions centrally, and have more complex operating
requirements than smaller dealers due to larger vehicle inventories,
higher inventory turns, and more rooftops. These dealers are more
dependent on full-featured IMSs and other robust, integrated automated
solutions to effectively manage their businesses. Although some other
solutions offer dealers certain aspects of inventory management
functionality, they are less comprehensive and less robust than full-
featured IMSs. These solutions are used primarily by smaller dealers
and are not meaningful alternatives to full-featured IMSs.
Cox and Dealertrack are by far the two leading providers of full-
featured IMSs. Cox is the market leader with a market share of
approximately 60%; Dealertrack has a market share of about 26%.
Cox and Dealertrack currently compete head-to-head in the
development, marketing, and sale of their respective full-featured
IMSs. The proposed acquisition would eliminate this competition, and
Cox would emerge as the clearly dominant full-featured IMS provider
with the ability to exercise substantial market power, thereby
increasing the likelihood that Cox can and would unilaterally increase
prices or reduce its investment or other efforts to improve the quality
of its products and services. Moreover, with the acquisition of
Dealertrack, Cox would acquire an ownership interest in Chrome that
could enable Cox to deny or restrict access to Chrome data and thereby
unilaterally undermine the competitive viability of Cox's remaining IMS
competitors.
III. EXPLANATION OF THE PROPOSED FINAL JUDGMENT
The divestiture and other remedial measures of the proposed Final
Judgment will prevent the alleged anticompetitive effects of the
acquisition by preserving Dealertrack's IMS business as an economically
viable competitor. Pursuant to Section IV, the proposed Final Judgment
requires Defendants, within ten (10) days after the Court's signing of
the Hold Separate or the closing of Cox's acquisition of Dealertrack,
whichever is later, to divest the products, related assets, and ongoing
business operations relating to Dealertrack's IMS business operations
in the United States.\1\ The assets must be divested in such a way as
to satisfy the United States in its sole discretion that the operations
can and will be operated by the Acquirer as a viable, ongoing business
that can compete effectively in providing IMSs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Some IMS products that Dealertrack sells in the U.S. are
also sold in Canada. Defendants are required to divest Dealertrack's
entire interest in the specified IMS products.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Defendants must use their best efforts to complete the required
divestiture as expeditiously as possible. Defendants have proposed a
divestiture to DealerSocket. If the proposed divestiture to
DealerSocket is delayed, abandoned, or not approved, the United States,
in its sole discretion, may agree to one or more extensions of the time
for Defendants to complete the divestiture to DealerSocket or another
Acquirer that is acceptable to the United States. All such extensions
may not exceed one hundred and twenty (120) calendar days.
If Defendants do not complete the divestiture within the prescribed
time, Section VI of the Final Judgment provides that the Court will
appoint a trustee selected by the United States to effect the
divestiture. Defendants are required to use their best efforts to
assist the trustee in accomplishing the divestiture and will pay the
trustee's costs and expenses. The trustee's commission will be
structured so as to provide an incentive for the trustee based on the
price obtained and the speed with which the divestiture is
accomplished. The trustee will file monthly reports with the Court and
the United States setting forth his or her efforts to accomplish the
divestiture. If the trustee does not complete the divestiture within
six months, the trustee and the United States will make recommendations
to the Court, which shall enter such orders as appropriate to carry out
the purpose of the proposed Final Judgment, including potentially
extending the trust or the term of the trustee's appointment.
Section V of the proposed Final Judgment imposes additional
obligations to foster a smooth transfer of Dealertrack's IMS business
to DealerSocket or another Acquirer and to ensure for a reasonable time
that Defendants permit the uninterrupted exchange of data and content
between the divested IMS products and other data sources, Internet
sites, and automotive solutions that are owned, controlled, provided,
or managed by Defendants. Section V.A requires Defendants to provide
for up to one year any transition services that are necessary to enable
the Acquirer to operate the divested assets and compete effectively in
the market for IMSs as of the date of the divestiture.
Section V.B requires Defendants to enable for up to four years the
exchange of data and other content that is currently being exchanged
between the divested IMS products and any destinations, sites, or other
data sources that Defendants control. This section provides for the
continuing exchange of
[[Page 61460]]
data between the divested IMS products and, for example, Cox's Manheim,
AutoTrader, and KBB products. Section V.C requires Defendants to
provide for the exchange of this data on the same terms that were in
effect before the divestiture and specifies conditions when the
Acquirer may elect to exchange the data under more favorable terms.
Section V.F requires Defendants to enable, at cost, for up to four
years the exchange of an IMS customer's data that is currently being
exchanged between the divested IMS products and any of the customer's
other sites or solutions that are provided or managed by Defendants.
This section provides for the continuing exchange of a customer's data
between the divested IMS product used by the customer and, for example,
the customer's Web site that is managed by Dealertrack's Dealer.com or
the customer's Dealertrack DMS. Section V.G requires Defendants to
provide for the exchange of this customer data on the same terms that
were in effect before the divestiture and specifies conditions when the
Acquirer may elect to exchange the data under more favorable terms.
Sections V.L through V.P impose various obligations to ensure that
Defendants do not take any action to disrupt access to Chrome data by
their IMS competitors, including the Acquirer, or to reduce or limit
the value that Defendants' IMS competitors derive from Chrome's status
as a de facto standard in many automotive solutions and Web sites. In
particular, Defendants are prohibited from taking any action that would
prevent Autodata from exercising the right it will have to acquire and
exercise control of Chrome after Cox completes its acquisition of
Dealertrack (Section V.L); from exercising any rights, other than a
limited right to veto the renewal of a Chrome license to CDK Global or
Reynolds and Reynolds (``Reynolds'') (discussed below), with respect to
the licensing or pricing of Chrome data to any customer or customer
class that competes with Defendants (Section V.M); from reviewing or
using the competitively sensitive information of any customer or
customer class that competes with Defendants (Section V.N); and from
acquiring any additional assets or interests in Chrome (Section V.O).
Section V.P requires Defendants to use all reasonable efforts to amend
the Chrome joint venture and operating agreements to incorporate the
limitations or rights imposed by Sections V.L through V.O. These
amendments would allow the requirements in Sections V.L through V.O to
survive termination of the proposed Final Judgment in a private
agreement that could be enforced by Autodata and could only be
withdrawn or modified with Autodata's consent.
CDK Global and Reynolds currently account for the vast majority of
all DMS sales, and Dealertrack currently has the right to veto any
Chrome license with CDK Global or Reynolds. Section V.M would
substantially limit Defendants' use of this preexisting right to when
either CDK Global or Reynolds terminates, without reasonable cause, the
ability of CDK Global's or Reynolds' DMS products to interoperate with
the Defendants' products. This provision preserves an industry dynamic
that favors interoperability and benefits consumers.
Section XI of the proposed Final Judgment provides that, on
application of the United States, the Court shall appoint a Monitoring
Trustee selected by the United States. The Monitoring Trustee will have
the power and authority to investigate and report on Defendants'
compliance with the Final Judgment and Hold Separate, including
Defendants' compliance with all of the obligations in Section V
relating to transition services, data exchange, and Chrome data. The
Monitoring Trustee will not have any responsibility or obligation for
the operation of Defendants' businesses. The Monitoring Trustee will
serve at Defendants' expense, on such terms and conditions as the
United States approves, and Defendants must use their best efforts to
assist the trustee in fulfilling its obligations. The Monitoring
Trustee will file quarterly reports and will serve until the required
divestiture is complete and for so long as Defendants continue to have
obligations under Section V.
IV. REMEDIES AVAILABLE TO POTENTIAL PRIVATE LITIGANTS
Section 4 of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. 15, provides that any
person who has been injured as a result of conduct prohibited by the
antitrust laws may bring suit in federal court to recover three times
the damages the person has suffered, as well as costs and reasonable
attorneys' fees. Entry of the proposed Final Judgment will neither
impair nor assist the bringing of any private antitrust damage action.
Under the provisions of Section 5(a) of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C.
16(a), the proposed Final Judgment has no prima facie effect in any
subsequent private lawsuit that may be brought against Defendants.
V. PROCEDURES AVAILABLE FOR MODIFICATION OF THE PROPOSED FINAL JUDGMENT
The United States and Defendants have stipulated that the proposed
Final Judgment may be entered by the Court after compliance with the
provisions of the APPA, provided that the United States has not
withdrawn its consent. The APPA conditions entry upon the Court's
determination that the proposed Final Judgment is in the public
interest.
The APPA provides a period of at least sixty (60) days preceding
the effective date of the proposed Final Judgment within which any
person may submit to the United States written comments regarding the
proposed Final Judgment. Any person who wishes to comment should do so
within sixty (60) days of the date of publication of this Competitive
Impact Statement in the Federal Register, or the last date of
publication in a newspaper of the summary of this Competitive Impact
Statement, whichever is later. All comments received during this period
will be considered by the United States Department of Justice, which
remains free to withdraw its consent to the proposed Final Judgment at
any time prior to the Court's entry of judgment. The comments and the
response of the United States will be filed with the Court. In
addition, comments will be posted on the U.S. Department of Justice,
Antitrust Division's Internet Web site and, under certain
circumstances, published in the Federal Register.
Written comments should be submitted to:
James J. Tierney, Chief
Networks & Technology Enforcement Section
Antitrust Division
United States Department of Justice
450 Fifth Street NW., Suite 7100
Washington, DC 20530
The proposed Final Judgment provides that the Court retains
jurisdiction over this action, and the parties may apply to the Court
for any order necessary or appropriate for the modification,
interpretation, or enforcement of the Final Judgment.
VI. ALTERNATIVES TO THE PROPOSED FINAL JUDGMENT
The United States considered, as an alternative to the proposed
Final Judgment, a full trial on the merits against Defendants. The
United States could have continued the litigation and sought
preliminary and permanent injunctions against Cox's acquisition of
Dealertrack. The United States is satisfied, however, that the
divestiture
[[Page 61461]]
of assets and other relief described in the proposed Final Judgment and
Hold Separate will preserve competition for the provision of IMSs in
the United States, and thus effectively addresses the violation alleged
in the Complaint. The proposed Final Judgment would therefore achieve
all or substantially all of the relief the United States would have
obtained through litigation, but avoids the time, expense, and
uncertainty of a full trial on the merits.
VII. STANDARD OF REVIEW UNDER THE APPA FOR THE PROPOSED FINAL JUDGMENT
The Clayton Act, as amended by the APPA, requires that proposed
consent judgments in antitrust cases brought by the United States be
subject to a sixty-day comment period, after which the Court shall
determine whether entry of the proposed Final Judgment ``is in the
public interest.'' 15 U.S.C. 16(e)(1). In making that determination,
the Court, in accordance with the statute as amended in 2004, is
required to consider:
(A) the competitive impact of such judgment, including termination
of alleged violations, provisions for enforcement and modification,
duration of relief sought, anticipated effects of alternative remedies
actually considered, whether its terms are ambiguous, and any other
competitive considerations bearing upon the adequacy of such judgment
that the court deems necessary to a determination of whether the
consent judgment is in the public interest; and
(B) the impact of entry of such judgment upon competition in the
relevant market or markets, upon the public generally and individuals
alleging specific injury from the violations set forth in the complaint
including consideration of the public benefit, if any, to be derived
from a determination of the issues at trial.
15 U.S.C. 16(e)(1)(A) & (B). In considering these statutory factors,
the Court's inquiry is necessarily a limited one as the government is
entitled to ``broad discretion to settle with the defendant within the
reaches of the public interest.'' United States v. Microsoft Corp., 56
F.3d 1448, 1461 (D.C. Cir. 1995); see generally United States v. SBC
Commc'ns, Inc., 489 F. Supp. 2d 1 (D.D.C. 2007) (assessing public
interest standard under the Tunney Act); United States v, U.S. Airways
Group, Inc., 38 F. Supp. 3d 69, 75 (D.D.C. 2014) (explaining that the
``court's inquiry is limited'' in Tunney Act settlements); United
States v. InBev N.V./S.A., No. 08-1965 (JR), 2009-2 Trade Cas. (CCH) ]
76,736, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 84787, at *3, (D.D.C. Aug. 11, 2009)
(noting that the court's review of a consent judgment is limited and
only inquires ``into whether the government's determination that the
proposed remedies will cure the antitrust violations alleged in the
complaint was reasonable, and whether the mechanism to enforce the
final judgment are clear and manageable.'').\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ The 2004 amendments substituted ``shall'' for ``may'' in
directing relevant factors for courts to consider and amended the
list of factors to focus on competitive considerations and to
address potentially ambiguous judgment terms. Compare 15 U.S.C.
16(e) (2004), with 15 U.S.C. 16(e)(1) (2006); see also SBC Commc'ns,
489 F. Supp. 2d at 11 (concluding that the 2004 amendments
``effected minimal changes'' to Tunney Act review).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
As the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
Circuit has held, under the APPA a court considers, among other things,
the relationship between the remedy secured and the specific
allegations set forth in the government's complaint, whether the decree
is sufficiently clear, whether enforcement mechanisms are sufficient,
and whether the decree may positively harm third parties. See
Microsoft, 56 F.3d at 1458-62. With respect to the adequacy of the
relief secured by the decree, a court may not ``engage in an
unrestricted evaluation of what relief would best serve the public.''
United States v. BNS, Inc., 858 F.2d 456, 462 (9th Cir. 1988) (quoting
United States v. Bechtel Corp., 648 F.2d 660, 666 (9th Cir. 1981)); see
also Microsoft, 56 F.3d at 1460-62; United States v. Alcoa, Inc., 152
F. Supp. 2d 37, 40 (D.D.C. 2001); InBev, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 84787,
at *3. Courts have held that:
[t]he balancing of competing social and political interests affected by
a proposed antitrust consent decree must be left, in the first
instance, to the discretion of the Attorney General. The court's role
in protecting the public interest is one of insuring that the
government has not breached its duty to the public in consenting to the
decree. The court is required to determine not whether a particular
decree is the one that will best serve society, but whether the
settlement is ``within the reaches of the public interest.'' More
elaborate requirements might undermine the effectiveness of antitrust
enforcement by consent decree.
Bechtel, 648 F.2d at 666 (emphasis added) (citations omitted).\3\ In
determining whether a proposed settlement is in the public interest, a
district court ``must accord deference to the government's predictions
about the efficacy of its remedies, and may not require that the
remedies perfectly match the alleged violations.'' SBC Commc'ns, 489 F.
Supp. 2d at 17; see also U.S. Airways, 38 F. Supp. 3d at 75 (noting
that a court should not reject the proposed remedies because it
believes others are preferable); Microsoft, 56 F.3d at 1461 (noting the
need for courts to be ``deferential to the government's predictions as
to the effect of the proposed remedies''); United States v. Archer-
Daniels-Midland Co., 272 F. Supp. 2d 1, 6 (D.D.C. 2003) (noting that
the court should grant due respect to the United States' prediction as
to the effect of proposed remedies, its perception of the market
structure, and its views of the nature of the case).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ Cf. BNS, 858 F.2d at 464 (holding that the court's
``ultimate authority under the [APPA] is limited to approving or
disapproving the consent decree''); United States v. Gillette Co.,
406 F. Supp. 713, 716 (D. Mass. 1975) (noting that, in this way, the
court is constrained to ``look at the overall picture not
hypercritically, nor with a microscope, but with an artist's
reducing glass''). See generally Microsoft, 56 F.3d at 1461
(discussing whether ``the remedies [obtained in the decree are] so
inconsonant with the allegations charged as to fall outside of the
`reaches of the public interest' '').
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Courts have greater flexibility in approving proposed consent
decrees than in crafting their own decrees following a finding of
liability in a litigated matter. ``[A] proposed decree must be approved
even if it falls short of the remedy the court would impose on its own,
as long as it falls within the range of acceptability or is `within the
reaches of public interest.''' United States v. Am. Tel. & Tel. Co.,
552 F. Supp. 131, 151 (D.D.C. 1982) (citations omitted) (quoting United
States v. Gillette Co., 406 F. Supp. 713, 716 (D. Mass. 1975)), aff'd
sub nom. Maryland v. United States, 460 U.S. 1001 (1983); see also U.S.
Airways, 38 F. Supp. 3d at 76 (noting that room must be made for the
government to grant concessions in the negotiation process for
settlements) (citing Microsoft, 56 F.3d at 1461); United States v.
Alcan Aluminum Ltd., 605 F. Supp. 619, 622 (W.D. Ky. 1985) (approving
the consent decree even though the court would have imposed a greater
remedy). To meet this standard, the United States ``need only provide a
factual basis for concluding that the settlements are reasonably
adequate remedies for the alleged harms.'' SBC Commc'ns, 489 F. Supp.
2d at 17.
Moreover, the Court's role under the APPA is limited to reviewing
the remedy in relationship to the violations that the United States has
alleged in its Complaint, and does not authorize the Court to
``construct [its] own hypothetical case and then evaluate the decree
against that case.'' Microsoft, 56 F.3d at 1459; see also U.S. Airways,
38 F. Supp. 3d at 75 (noting that the court must simply determine
whether there is a factual foundation for the
[[Page 61462]]
government's decisions such that its conclusions regarding the proposed
settlements are reasonable); InBev, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 84787, at *20
(``the `public interest' is not to be measured by comparing the
violations alleged in the complaint against those the court believes
could have, or even should have, been alleged''). Because the ``court's
authority to review the decree depends entirely on the government's
exercising its prosecutorial discretion by bringing a case in the first
place,'' it follows that ``the court is only authorized to review the
decree itself,'' and not to ``effectively redraft the complaint'' to
inquire into other matters that the United States did not pursue.
Microsoft, 56 F.3d at 1459-60. As this Court confirmed in SBC
Communications, courts ``cannot look beyond the complaint in making the
public interest determination unless the complaint is drafted so
narrowly as to make a mockery of judicial power.'' SBC Commc'ns, 489 F.
Supp. 2d at 15.
In its 2004 amendments, Congress made clear its intent to preserve
the practical benefits of utilizing consent decrees in antitrust
enforcement, adding the unambiguous instruction that ``[n]othing in
this section shall be construed to require the court to conduct an
evidentiary hearing or to require the court to permit anyone to
intervene.'' 15 U.S.C. 16(e)(2); see also U.S. Airways, 38 F. Supp. 3d
at 76 (indicating that a court is not required to hold an evidentiary
hearing or to permit intervenors as part of its review under the Tunney
Act). The language wrote into the statute what Congress intended when
it enacted the Tunney Act in 1974, as Senator Tunney explained: ``[t]he
court is nowhere compelled to go to trial or to engage in extended
proceedings which might have the effect of vitiating the benefits of
prompt and less costly settlement through the consent decree process.''
119 Cong. Rec. 24,598 (1973) (statement of Sen. Tunney). Rather, the
procedure for the public interest determination is left to the
discretion of the Court, with the recognition that the Court's ``scope
of review remains sharply proscribed by precedent and the nature of
Tunney Act proceedings.'' SBC Commc'ns, 489 F. Supp. 2d at 11.\4\ A
court can make its public interest determination based on the
competitive impact statement and response to public comments alone.
U.S. Airways, 38 F. Supp. 3d at 76.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ See United States v. Enova Corp., 107 F. Supp. 2d 10, 17
(D.D.C. 2000) (noting that the ``Tunney Act expressly allows the
court to make its public interest determination on the basis of the
competitive impact statement and response to comments alone'');
United States v. Mid-Am. Dairymen, Inc., No. 73-CV-681-W-1, 1977-1
Trade Cas. (CCH) ] 61,508, at 71,980, *22 (W.D. Mo. 1977) (``Absent
a showing of corrupt failure of the government to discharge its
duty, the Court, in making its public interest finding, should . . .
carefully consider the explanations of the government in the
competitive impact statement and its responses to comments in order
to determine whether those explanations are reasonable under the
circumstances.''); S. Rep. No. 93-298, at 6 (1973) (``Where the
public interest can be meaningfully evaluated simply on the basis of
briefs and oral arguments, that is the approach that should be
utilized.'').
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VIII. DETERMINATIVE DOCUMENTS
There are no determinative materials or documents within the
meaning of the APPA that were considered by the United States in
formulating the proposed Final Judgment.
Dated: September 29, 2015
Respectfully submitted,
Ian D. Hoffman
Kent Brown
U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division
Networks & Technology Enforcement Section
450 Fifth Street, NW., Suite 7100
Washington, DC 20530
Phone: (202) 598-2456
Facsimile: (202) 616-8544
Email: ian.hoffman@atr.usdoj.gov
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Plaintiff, v. COX ENTERPRISES, INC., COX
AUTOMOTIVE, INC., and DEALERTRACK TECHNOLOGIES, INC. Defendants.
Case No. 1:15-cv-01583
Judge: Thomas F. Hogan
Description: Antitrust
Filed: September 29, 2015
FINAL JUDGMENT
WHEREAS, Plaintiff United States of America filed its Complaint on
September 29, 2015, the United States and Defendants, Cox Enterprises,
Inc., Cox Automotive, Inc., and Dealertrack Technologies, Inc., by
their respective attorneys, have consented to the entry of this Final
Judgment without trial or adjudication of any issue of fact or law, and
without this Final Judgment constituting any evidence against or
admission by any party regarding any issue of fact or law;
AND WHEREAS, Defendants agree to be bound by the provisions of this
Final Judgment pending its approval by the Court;
AND WHEREAS, the essence of this Final Judgment is the prompt and
certain divestiture of certain rights or assets by the Defendants to
assure that competition is not substantially lessened;
AND WHEREAS, the United States requires Defendants to make certain
divestitures and to undertake certain actions and refrain from certain
conduct for the purpose of remedying the loss of competition alleged in
the Complaint;
AND WHEREAS, Defendants have represented to the United States that
the divestiture and conduct restrictions required below can and will be
made and that Defendants will later raise no claim of hardship or
difficulty as grounds for asking the Court to modify any of the
provisions contained below;
NOW THEREFORE, before any testimony is taken, without trial or
adjudication of any issue of fact or law, and upon consent of the
parties, it is ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED:
I. JURISDICTION
This Court has jurisdiction over the subject matter of and each of
the parties to this action. The Complaint states a claim upon which
relief may be granted against Defendants under Section 7 of the Clayton
Act, as amended, 15 U.S.C. 18.
II. DEFINITIONS
As used in this Final Judgment:
A. ``Acquirer'' means DealerSocket, Inc. or another entity to whom
Defendants divest the Divestiture Assets.
B. ``Affiliate'' means directly or indirectly controlling,
controlled by, or under common control with a Person.
C. ``Autodata'' means Autodata Solutions, Inc., a Delaware
corporation; Autodata Solutions Company, a Nova Scotia unlimited
liability company; and all of their successors and assigns, and their
subsidiaries, divisions, groups, Affiliates, partnerships and joint
ventures, and their directors, officers, managers, agents, trustees,
and employees.
D. ``Chrome'' means Chrome Data Solutions, LP, a Delaware limited
partnership; Chrome Data Operating, LLC, a Delaware limited liability
company; AutoChrome Company, a Nova Scotia unlimited liability company;
and all of their successors and assigns, and their subsidiaries,
division, groups, Affiliates, partnerships and joint ventures, and
their directors, officers, managers, agents, trustees and employees.
E. ``Chrome Agreements'' means the Operating Agreement of Chrome
Data Operating, LLC, effective as of January 1, 2012; the Amended and
Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership of Chrome Data Solutions, LP,
effective as
[[Page 61463]]
of January 1, 2012; and the Shareholders Agreement of AutoChrome
Company, effective as of January 1, 2012; and all amendments,
modifications, or codicils to any of them.
F. ``Chrome Data'' means any vehicle information data, databases,
or data sets for any make or model of vehicle, and related software and
services, licensed, sold, or resold by Chrome, including but not
limited to editorial content, stock images, stock videos, ordering
guide pricing data, automotive feature and specification data from new
vehicle original equipment manufacturer (``OEM'') publications, new
vehicle OEM rebates and incentives data, configuration related data,
factory service schedule data, Vehicle Identification Number (``VIN'')
decode data, OEM build data, and accessories data, and including any
improvement, enhancement, or modification made thereto.
G. ``Competitively Sensitive Information'' means non-public
information relating to (i) the terms and conditions (including but not
limited to fees or prices) of any actual or prospective contract,
agreement, understanding, or relationship concerning the licensing of
Chrome Data, to specific or identifiable customers or classes or groups
of customers, or (ii) the existence of any such prospective contract,
agreement, understanding, or relationship, as well as any proprietary
customer information, including but not limited to customer-specific
vehicle queries, vehicle lists, or vehicle inventory. Competitively
Sensitive Information does not include information (1) disclosed in
public materials or otherwise in the public domain through no fault of
the receiving party, (2) lawfully obtained by the receiving party from
a third party without any obligation of confidentiality, (3) lawfully
known to the receiving party prior to disclosure by the disclosing
party, or (4) independently developed by the receiving party.
H. ``Cox'' means Cox Automotive, Inc., a Delaware corporation with
its headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia; Cox Enterprises, Inc., a Delaware
corporation with its headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia; and all of their
successors and assigns, and their subsidiaries, divisions, groups,
Affiliates, partnerships and joint ventures, and their directors,
officers, managers, agents, trustees, and employees (including but not
limited to the Cox Family Voting Trust u/a/d 7/26/13 and its trustees).
I. ``Dealertrack'' means Dealertrack Technologies, Inc., a Delaware
corporation with its headquarters in Lake Success, New York, its
successors and assigns, and its subsidiaries, divisions, groups,
Affiliates, partnerships and joint ventures, and their directors,
officers, managers, agents, trustees, and employees.
J. ``DealerSocket'' means DealerSocket, Inc., a Delaware
corporation with its headquarters in San Clemente, California, its
successors and assigns, and its subsidiaries, divisions, groups,
Affiliates, partnerships and joint ventures, and their directors,
officers, managers, agents, trustees, and employees.
K. ``Defendants'' means Cox and Dealertrack, acting individually or
collectively. Where this Final Judgment imposes an obligation to engage
in or refrain from engaging in certain conduct, that obligation shall
apply to each Defendant individually and to any combination of
Defendants.
L. ``Divested Product'' means Dealertrack eCarList[supreg],
Dealertrack AAX[supreg], and Dealertrack's Inventory+ and InventoryPro,
and all products, options, applications, features, functions, modules,
add-ons, and services relating to any such product, including the
products listed in Schedule A. A Divested Product includes each
predecessor version of the product and each version that has been or is
currently under development or that has been developed but has not been
sold or distributed.
M. ``Divestiture Assets'' means the ongoing business relating to
any Divested Product and all tangible and intangible assets owned or
licensed by Dealertrack relating to developing, testing, producing,
marketing, licensing, selling, or distributing any Divested Product on
a standalone basis or in supplying any support or maintenance services
for any Divested Product on a standalone basis, including:
(1) all tangible assets related to the Divested Product, including
all research and development activities; computer systems, databases,
networking equipment and data centers; personal property, inventory,
office furniture, materials, supplies, and other tangible property and
all assets used exclusively in connection with the Divested Product;
licenses; permits, licenses and authorizations issued by any
governmental organization relating to the Divested Product to the
extent transferrable; contracts, teaming arrangements, supply
agreements, agreements, leases, commitments, certifications, and
understandings relating to the Divested Product; customer lists,
contracts, accounts, and credit records; sales support material;
repair, maintenance and performance records; and all other records
relating to the Divested Product; and
(2) all intangible assets related to the Divested Product,
including, but not limited to, all vehicle data and information
accessed by a Divested Product as of August 1, 2015; all patents,
licenses and sublicenses, including data licenses; intellectual
property; copyrights, trademarks, trade names, service marks, service
names; computer software and related documentation, including software
customizations, optional modules and add-ons for a Divested Product;
source code, object code, and related documentation; development tools,
development environments, proprietary programming languages, know-how,
designs, drawing, specifications, research data, trade secrets,
historic and current research and development, results of successful
and unsuccessful designs and experiments, and all other intellectual
property used to develop, upgrade or maintain a Divested Product; and
software programs, instructions, manuals and all other technical
information Dealertrack provides to its own employees, customers,
suppliers, agents, or licensees to facilitate the operation of any
Divested Product.
N. ``DMS'' means dealer management solution software, hardware, or
services, or any combination thereof, used for automotive dealership
management, including keeping track of, organizing, or in any way
managing the operations, including sales, inventory, maintenance,
service, payroll, accounting, personnel, and other aspects of the
dealership's business.
O. ``IMS'' means inventory management solution software, hardware,
or services, or any combination thereof, used for vehicle inventory
management, including optimization, analytics, organization, stocking,
provisioning, appraising, pricing, merchandising, sourcing, buying,
selling, acquisition or disposal at auction or at wholesale, and inter-
enterprise transfers.
P. ``Person'' means any natural person, corporation, company,
partnership, joint venture, firm, association, proprietorship, agency,
board, authority, commission, office, trust, or other business or legal
entity, whether private or governmental.
Q. ``Transition Services Agreement'' means an agreement between
Defendants and Acquirer for Defendants to provide all necessary
transition services and support to enable Acquirer to fully operate the
Divestiture Assets and compete effectively in the market
[[Page 61464]]
for IMSs as of the date the Divestiture Assets are sold.
III. APPLICABILITY
A. This Final Judgment applies to Defendants, and all other Persons
in active concert or participation with any of them who receive actual
notice of this Final Judgment by personal service or otherwise.
B. If Defendants sell or otherwise dispose of all or substantially
all of their assets, or of lesser business units that include the
Divestiture Assets, they shall require the purchaser to be bound by the
provisions of this Final Judgment. Defendants need not obtain such an
agreement from Acquirer of the assets divested pursuant to this Final
Judgment.
IV. DIVESTITURE
A. Defendants are ordered and directed, within ten (10) calendar
days after (i) the Court's signing of the Hold Separate Stipulation and
Order in this matter, (ii) the closing of Cox's acquisition of
Dealertrack, whichever is later, to divest the Divestiture Assets in a
manner consistent with this Final Judgment to DealerSocket or another
Acquirer acceptable to the United States, in its sole discretion. The
United States, in its sole discretion, may agree to one or more
extensions of this time period, with any one extension not to exceed
sixty (60) calendar days and all extensions not to exceed one hundred
and twenty (120) calendar days in total, and shall notify the Court in
such circumstances. Defendants agree to use their best efforts to
divest the Divestiture Assets as expeditiously as possible. As to any
Divestiture Asset that is not primarily related to the Divested Product
because its primary use or application is in a product that will be
retained by the Defendants, the asset may be divested pursuant to
Section IV or VI of this Final Judgment by granting Acquirer a
perpetual, non-exclusive license.
B. In the event Defendants attempt to divest the Divestiture Assets
to an Acquirer other than DealerSocket, Defendants promptly shall make
known, by usual and customary means, the availability of the
Divestiture Assets. Defendants shall inform any Person making an
inquiry regarding a possible purchase of the Divestiture Assets that
they are being divested pursuant to this Final Judgment and provide
that Person with a copy of this Final Judgment.
C. In accomplishing the divestiture ordered by this Final Judgment,
Defendants shall offer to furnish to all prospective Acquirers, subject
to customary confidentiality assurances, all information and documents
relating to the Divestiture Assets customarily provided in a due
diligence process except such information or documents subject to the
attorney-client privilege or work-product doctrine. Defendants shall
make available such information to the United States at the same time
that such information is made available to any other Person.
D. Defendants shall provide Acquirer and the United States
information relating to the personnel involved in the operation,
development, service, maintenance, customer support, license, and sale
of the Divestiture Assets to enable Acquirer to make offers of
employment. Defendants shall not interfere with any negotiations,
offers, or actions by Acquirer to employ any Defendant employee whose
primary responsibility is in the operation, development, service,
maintenance, customer support, license, or sale of the Divestiture
Assets.
E. Defendants shall permit prospective Acquirers of the Divestiture
Assets to have reasonable access to personnel and to make inspections
of the physical facilities of Dealertrack that relate in any way to the
Divestiture Assets; access to any and all environmental, zoning, and
other permit documents and information; and access to any and all
financial, operational, or other documents and information customarily
provided as part of a due diligence process.
F. Defendants shall warrant to Acquirer that each of the
Divestiture Assets will be in good working condition and repair on the
date of sale.
G. Defendants shall not take any action that will impede in any way
the permitting, operation, or divestiture of the Divestiture Assets.
H. Defendants shall warrant to Acquirer that the Divestiture Assets
are in material compliance with the terms of each of, and have not
received any written notices of violation or alleged violation with
respect to any of, the environmental, zoning or other permits necessary
for the operation of each of the Divestiture Assets.
I. Unless the United States otherwise consents in writing, the
divestiture required pursuant to this Section IV, or by a Divestiture
Trustee appointed pursuant to Section VI of this Final Judgment, shall
include the entire Divestiture Assets, and shall be accomplished in
such a way as to satisfy the United States, in its sole discretion,
that the Divestiture Assets can and will be used by Acquirer as part of
a viable, ongoing business of providing IMS. The divestiture, whether
pursuant to Section IV or Section VI of this Final Judgment,
(1) shall be made to an Acquirer that, in the United States' sole
judgment, has the intent and capability (including the necessary
managerial, operational, technical and financial capability) of
competing effectively in the business of providing IMS; and
(2) shall be accomplished so as to satisfy the United States, in
its sole discretion, that none of the terms of any agreement between an
Acquirer and Defendants gives Defendants the ability unreasonably to
raise Acquirer's costs, to lower Acquirer's efficiency, or otherwise to
interfere in the ability of Acquirer to compete effectively.
V. OTHER REQUIRED CONDUCT
A. At the election of Acquirer, Defendants and Acquirer shall enter
into a Transition Services Agreement for a period of up to one (1) year
from the date of the divestiture. The Transition Services Agreement
shall enumerate all the duties and services that Acquirer requires of
Defendants to support the development, marketing, and sale of any
Divested Product. Defendants shall perform all duties and provide any
and all services required of Defendants under the Transition Services
Agreement. Any amendments, modifications, or extensions of the
Transition Services Agreement may only be entered into with the
approval of the United States, in its sole discretion.
B. In order for Acquirer to continue to have the uninterrupted
ability to transfer, receive, or otherwise exchange content and other
data between any Divested Product and destinations, sites, or other
data sources controlled by Defendants, including but not limited to
Manheim, AutoTrader, Kelly Blue Book (KBB), and any Dealertrack
solution or database that prepares or stores data in an aggregated,
normalized, and anonymized form, for three (3) years following the date
of the sale of the Divestiture Assets, Defendants shall: (1) provide to
Acquirer for use in its IMS business access to all such data sources
under their control that were accessed by the Divestiture Assets as of
August 1, 2015; and (2) allow Acquirer to provide content or other data
(such as automotive listings) to any such destination or site under
their control to which the Divestiture Assets provided content or other
data as of August 1, 2015. Defendants shall, upon receiving a written
request from Acquirer at least thirty (30) calendar days before
expiration of the third year, continue to provide the services covered
by this Section V.B for another one (1) year.
C. For any data or content subject to Section V.B, Defendants shall
provide
[[Page 61465]]
for the exchange of such data or content on the same terms that were
applicable to such data or content exchanges with the Divestiture
Assets as of August 1, 2015. Provided, however, that if Defendants
allow for the exchange of any such data or content with any other
provider's IMS (including any IMS of Defendants) on terms (other than
price) that are more favorable than the terms made available to
Acquirer, Defendants shall notify Acquirer of the more favorable terms
and Acquirer may elect to exchange the data or content on those terms.
For the avoidance of doubt, the following is a non-exhaustive list of
terms that may not be more favorable than those that are made available
to Acquirer:
(1) speed and frequency of content transmission;
(2) server lag time and/or uptime;
(3) database or API synchronization; and
(4) data content or data fields transmitted or utilized.
Provided, further, that this Section V.C. does not require
Defendants:
(1) To provide, or, if provided, to refrain from charging any
additional fee for, any additional data fields that were not accessed
by the Divestiture Assets as of August 1, 2015 and that Defendants do
not make commercially available to any other third party; or
(2) to allow Acquirer to cache any data that Cox prohibited
Dealertrack from caching in connection with the operation or use of any
Divested Product as of August 1, 2015, and that Defendants prohibit all
other third parties from caching.
D. For any data or content subject to Section V.B, Defendants shall
not change except for good cause the format of any data or content
exchange provided to Acquirer. For any such change, Defendants shall
provide adequate notice for Acquirer to modify its IMS products and any
customer installations to use the new data format without disruption.
E. Defendants may require as a condition of providing aggregated,
normalized, and anonymized data that is covered by Section V.B that
Acquirer provide the same data the Divested Product currently provides
as an input into the aggregated, normalized, and anonymized data, if
Acquirer is permitted to provide its data under terms that require
Defendants to preserve the confidentiality of Acquirer's data and not
use Acquirer's data except in the aggregated, normalized, and
anonymized form.
F. In order for Acquirer to continue to have the uninterrupted
ability to transfer, receive, or otherwise exchange a customer's
content and other data between any Divested Product and the customer's
other sites or solutions that are provided or managed by Defendants,
and with which any Divested Product exchanges data as of August 1, 2015
(``Designated Sites or Solutions'') including but not limited to
Dealer.com Web sites and the Dealertrack DMS, for three (3) years
following the date of sale of the Divestiture Assets, upon a customer's
approval, Defendants shall enable, at cost, the exchange of the
customer's data and content between Acquirer's IMS products and any
Designated Sites or Solutions . Defendants shall, upon receiving a
written request from Acquirer at least thirty (30) calendar days before
expiration of the third year, continue to provide the services covered
by this Section V.F for another one (1) year.
G. For any customer data or content subject to Section V.F,
Defendants shall provide for the exchange of such data or content on
the same terms that were applicable to such data or content exchanges
with the Divestiture Assets as of August 1, 2015. Provided, however,
that if Defendants allow for the exchange of any such data or content
with any other provider's IMS (including any IMS of Defendants) and any
of the Designated Sites or Solutions on terms (other than price) that
are more favorable than the terms made available to Acquirer,
Defendants shall notify Acquirer of the more favorable terms and
Acquirer may elect to exchange the data or content on those terms. For
the avoidance of doubt, the following is a non-exhaustive list of terms
that may not be more favorable than those that are made available to
Acquirer:
(1) Speed and frequency of content transmission;
(2) server lag time and/or uptime;
(3) database or API synchronization; and
(4) data content or data fields transmitted or utilized.
H. Defendants may impose, with a customer's approval and as a
condition of enabling the exchange of the customer's data and content
that is covered by Section V.F, conditions that are reasonably related
to maintaining the security, integrity and confidentiality of the data,
except that Defendants may not impose conditions that are materially
less favorable than the conditions under which Defendants allow the
exchange of a customer's content or data between any IMS owned or
controlled by Defendants and any of the customer's other solutions or
sites that are provided or managed by Defendants.
I. For any data or content subject to Section V.F, Defendants shall
not change except for good cause the format of any customer data or
content exchange. For any such change, Defendants shall provide
adequate notice for Acquirer to modify its IMS products and any
customer installations to use the new data format without disruption.
J. Defendants shall take all reasonable steps to cooperate with and
assist Acquirer in obtaining any third party license or permission that
may be required for Defendants to convey, license, sublicense, assign
or otherwise transfer to Acquirer rights in any of the Divestiture
Assets or in any data that Defendants are required to provide to
Acquirer pursuant to this Section V.
K. Defendants are prohibited from retaining a copy of, using, or
offering for sale any of the Divestiture Assets other than those items
provided to Acquirer through a non-exclusive license, except that
Defendants may retain, use or sell Dealertrack SmartChat[supreg] and
the Broker Connection access and interoperability software.
L. Effective immediately upon consummation of Cox's acquisition of
control of Dealertrack, Defendants are prohibited from taking any
action that would prevent Autodata from immediately exercising any or
all of the following rights: (1) Acquiring a majority interest in the
ownership of Chrome; (2) appointing the Chief Executive Officer of
Chrome; or (3) appointing a third Director to the Board of Directors of
Chrome, each pursuant to the change of control provisions of the
applicable Chrome Agreements (but without requiring any of the
specified waiting periods); provided, however, that Defendants may
exercise any right to contest the price that Autodata proposes to pay
to acquire a majority interest in the ownership of Chrome, as set forth
in the applicable Chrome Agreements.
M. Effective immediately upon consummation of Cox's acquisition of
control of Dealertrack, Defendants are hereby enjoined from exercising
any rights with respect to the licensing or pricing of Chrome Data to
any actual or prospective Chrome customer that competes with
Defendants. Provided, however, that nothing in this Section V.M shall
prevent Defendants from: (i) Engaging in discussions or negotiations
relating to the licensing of Chrome Data to Defendants; or (ii)
exercising any rights that Defendants may hold to prevent the renewal
of any license that is applicable to the use of Chrome Data in the DMS
of either CDK Global, Inc. or The Reynolds and Reynolds
[[Page 61466]]
Company (together with their respective Affiliates, ``CDK'' and
``Reynolds'') solely in the event that CDK or Reynolds terminates,
without reasonable cause, a Defendant's (or any of its Affiliates')
ability to integrate its products with the DMS of the company as to
which the nonrenewal would apply.
N. Effective immediately upon consummation of Cox's acquisition of
control of Dealertrack, Defendants are hereby enjoined from reviewing,
receiving, obtaining, sharing, using, or attempting to obtain, share,
or use any Competitively Sensitive Information, other than (i)
Competitively Sensitive Information relating solely to Defendants; (ii)
Competitively Sensitive Information relating solely to Chrome customers
with whom Defendants do not compete; or (iii) information about the
existence and prospective renewal of Chrome Data licensing agreements
with CDK or Reynolds solely to the extent necessary to exercise
Defendants' rights in Section V.M.(ii). For the avoidance of doubt, the
following is a non-exhaustive list of activities as to which Defendants
are enjoined:
(1) exercising any otherwise available audit right for the purpose
of, or which would result in, Defendants obtaining access to any such
Competitively Sensitive Information;
(2) participating in discussions or meetings of the Board of
Directors of Chrome in which any such Competitively Sensitive
Information is discussed or otherwise disclosed;
(3) requesting, obtaining, or reviewing any portion of any business
plan, strategy, periodic report, or other document in which any such
Competitively Sensitive Information is included or otherwise disclosed;
and
(4) sharing or using any such Competitively Sensitive Information
obtained from, or otherwise disclosed through or by, Chrome, whether
inadvertently disclosed or otherwise, for any purpose whatsoever.
O. Defendants shall not acquire, directly or indirectly, any
additional assets of or interest in Chrome, or any owner of any
interest in Chrome, including Autodata, other than that which
Dealertrack owned as of August 1, 2015. If Autodata acquires a majority
ownership in Chrome, Defendants shall take no action to increase,
directly or indirectly, their resulting minority interest in Chrome.
Nothing in this Section V.O shall prohibit Defendants from receiving a
proportional or less than proportional distribution of Chrome equity
securities in connection with any equity distribution or any future
conversion of Chrome into a corporation so long as Defendants' economic
share in Chrome does not increase as a result of such distribution.
P. Promptly after Cox's acquisition of control of Dealertrack,
Defendants shall use all reasonable efforts to amend or otherwise
change the Chrome Agreements to incorporate into such agreements all of
the requirements in Sections V.L through V.O. The required amendments
or changes shall: (i) be acceptable to the United States, in its sole
discretion; (ii) have no expiration date; and (iii) provide that they
may not be withdrawn, amended, or otherwise changed without the consent
of Autodata and, prior to the expiration of this Final Judgment, the
United States. Provided, however, that any such amendments or changes
to the Chrome Agreements may be applicable only to Defendants and may
automatically terminate upon Defendants' sale of their entire interest
in Chrome.
VI. APPOINTMENT OF DIVESTITURE TRUSTEE
A. If Defendants have not divested the Divestiture Assets within
the time period specified in Section IV.A of this Final Judgment,
Defendants shall notify the United States of that fact in writing. Upon
application of the United States, the Court shall appoint a Divestiture
Trustee selected by the United States and approved by the Court to
effect the divestiture of the Divestiture Assets.
B. After the appointment of a Divestiture Trustee becomes
effective, only the Divestiture Trustee shall have the right to sell
the Divestiture Assets. The Divestiture Trustee shall have the power
and authority to accomplish the divestiture to an Acquirer acceptable
to the United States at such price and on such terms as are then
obtainable upon reasonable effort by the Divestiture Trustee, subject
to the provisions of Sections IV, VI and VII of this Final Judgment,
and shall have such other powers as this Court deems appropriate.
Subject to Section VI.D. of this Final Judgment, the Divestiture
Trustee may hire at the cost and expense of Defendants any investment
bankers, attorneys, or other agents, who shall be solely accountable to
the Divestiture Trustee, reasonably necessary in the Divestiture
Trustee's judgment to assist in the divestiture. Any such investment
bankers, attorneys, or other agents shall serve on such terms and
conditions as the United States approves, including confidentiality
requirements and conflict of interest certifications.
C. Defendants shall not object to a sale by the Divestiture Trustee
on any ground other than the Divestiture Trustee's malfeasance. Any
such objections by Defendants must be conveyed in writing to the United
States and the Divestiture Trustee within ten (10) calendar days after
the Divestiture Trustee has provided the notice required under Section
VII of this Final Judgment.
D. The Divestiture Trustee shall serve at the cost and expense of
Defendants pursuant to a written agreement, on such terms and
conditions as the United States approves, including confidentiality
requirements and conflict of interest certifications. The Divestiture
Trustee shall account for all monies derived from the sale of the
assets sold by the Divestiture Trustee and all costs and expenses so
incurred. After approval by the Court of the Divestiture Trustee's
accounting, including fees for its services yet unpaid and those of any
professionals and agents retained by the Divestiture Trustee, all
remaining money shall be paid to Defendants and the trust shall then be
terminated. The compensation of the Divestiture Trustee and any
professionals and agents retained by the Divestiture Trustee shall be
reasonable in light of the value of the Divestiture Assets and based on
a fee arrangement providing the Divestiture Trustee with an incentive
based on the price and terms of the divestiture and the speed with
which it is accomplished, but timeliness is paramount. If the
Divestiture Trustee and Defendants are unable to reach agreement on the
Divestiture Trustee's or any agents' or consultants' compensation or
other terms and conditions of engagement within fourteen (14) calendar
days of appointment of the Divestiture Trustee, the United States may,
in its sole discretion, take appropriate action, including making a
recommendation to the Court. The Divestiture Trustee shall, within
three (3) business days of hiring any other professionals or agents,
provide written notice of such hiring and the rate of compensation to
Defendants and the United States.
E. Defendants shall use their best efforts to assist the
Divestiture Trustee in accomplishing the required divestiture. The
Divestiture Trustee and any consultants, accountants, attorneys, and
other agents retained by the Divestiture Trustee shall have full and
complete access to the personnel, books, records, and facilities of the
business to be divested, and Defendants shall develop financial and
other information relevant to such business as the Divestiture Trustee
may reasonably request, subject to reasonable protection for trade
secret or other confidential research, development, or commercial
information or any applicable privileges. Defendants shall take no
[[Page 61467]]
action to interfere with or to impede the Divestiture Trustee's
accomplishment of the divestiture.
F. After its appointment, the Divestiture Trustee shall file
monthly reports with the United States and, as appropriate, the Court
setting forth the Divestiture Trustee's efforts to accomplish the
divestiture ordered by this Final Judgment. To the extent such reports
contain information that the Divestiture Trustee deems confidential,
such reports shall not be filed in the public docket of the Court. Such
reports shall include the name, address, and telephone number of each
Person who, during the preceding month, made an offer to acquire,
expressed an interest in acquiring, entered into negotiations to
acquire, or was contacted or made an inquiry about acquiring, any
interest in the Divestiture Assets, and shall describe in detail each
contact with any such Person. The Divestiture Trustee shall maintain
full records of all efforts made to divest the Divestiture Assets.
G. If the Divestiture Trustee has not accomplished the divestiture
ordered under this Final Judgment within six (6) months after its
appointment, the Divestiture Trustee shall promptly file with the Court
a report setting forth (1) the Divestiture Trustee's efforts to
accomplish the required divestiture, (2) the reasons, in the
Divestiture Trustee's judgment, why the required divestiture has not
been accomplished, and (3) the Divestiture Trustee's recommendations.
To the extent such report contains information that the Divestiture
Trustee deems confidential, such report shall not be filed in the
public docket of the Court. The Divestiture Trustee shall at the same
time furnish such report to the United States, which shall have the
right to make additional recommendations consistent with the purpose of
the trust. The Court thereafter shall enter such orders as it shall
deem appropriate to carry out the purpose of this Final Judgment, which
may, if necessary, include extending the trust and the term of the
Divestiture Trustee's appointment by a period requested by the United
States.
H. If the United States determines that the Divestiture Trustee has
ceased to act or failed to act diligently or in a reasonably cost-
effective manner, it may recommend that the Court appoint a substitute
Divestiture Trustee.
VII. NOTICE OF PROPOSED DIVESTITURE
A. Within two (2) business days following execution of a definitive
divestiture agreement, Defendants or the Divestiture Trustee, whichever
is then responsible for effecting the divestiture required herein,
shall notify the United States of any proposed divestiture required by
Section IV or VI of this Final Judgment. If the Divestiture Trustee is
responsible, it shall similarly notify Defendants. The notice shall set
forth the details of the proposed divestiture and list the name,
address, and telephone number of each Person not previously identified
who offered or expressed an interest in or desire to acquire any
ownership interest in the Divestiture Assets, together with full
details of the same.
B. Within fifteen (15) calendar days of receipt by the United
States of such notice, the United States may request from Defendants,
the proposed Acquirer, any other third party, or the Divestiture
Trustee, if applicable, additional information concerning the proposed
divestiture, the proposed Acquirer, and any other potential Acquirer.
Defendants and the Divestiture Trustee shall furnish any additional
information requested within fifteen (15) calendar days of the receipt
of the request, unless the parties shall otherwise agree.
C. Within thirty (30) calendar days after receipt of the notice or
within twenty (20) calendar days after the United States has been
provided the additional information requested from Defendants, the
proposed Acquirer, any third party, and the Divestiture Trustee,
whichever is later, the United States shall provide written notice to
Defendants and the Divestiture Trustee, if there is one, stating
whether or not it objects to the proposed divestiture. If the United
States provides written notice that it does not object, the divestiture
may be consummated, subject only to Defendants' limited right to object
to the sale under Section VI.C. of this Final Judgment. Absent written
notice that the United States does not object to the proposed Acquirer
or upon objection by the United States, a divestiture proposed under
Section IV or Section V shall not be consummated. Upon objection by
Defendants under Section VI.C., a divestiture proposed under Section VI
shall not be consummated unless approved by the Court.
VIII. FINANCING
Defendants shall not finance all or any part of any purchase made
pursuant to Section IV or VI of this Final Judgment.
IX. HOLD SEPARATE
Until the divestiture required by this Final Judgment has been
accomplished, Defendants shall take all steps necessary to comply with
the Hold Separate Stipulation and Order entered by this Court.
Defendants shall take no action that would jeopardize the divestiture
ordered by this Court.
X. AFFIDAVITS
A. Within twenty (20) calendar days of the filing of the Complaint
in this matter, and every thirty (30) calendar days thereafter until
the divestiture has been completed under Section IV or VI, Defendants
shall deliver to the United States an affidavit as to the fact and
manner of its compliance with Section IV or VI of this Final Judgment.
Each such affidavit shall include the name, address, and telephone
number of each Person who, during the preceding thirty (30) calendar
days, made an offer to acquire, expressed an interest in acquiring,
entered into negotiations to acquire, or was contacted or made an
inquiry about acquiring, any interest in the Divestiture Assets, and
shall describe in detail each contact with any such Person during that
period. Each such affidavit shall also include a description of the
efforts Defendants have taken to solicit buyers for the Divestiture
Assets, and to provide required information to prospective Acquirers,
including the limitations, if any, on such information. Assuming the
information set forth in the affidavit is true and complete, any
objection by the United States to information provided by Defendants,
including limitation on information, shall be made within fourteen (14)
calendar days of receipt of such affidavit.
B. Within twenty (20) calendar days of the filing of the Complaint
in this matter, Defendants shall deliver to the United States an
affidavit that describes in reasonable detail all actions Defendants
have taken and all steps Defendants have implemented on an ongoing
basis to comply with Section IX of this Final Judgment. Defendants
shall deliver to the United States an affidavit describing any changes
to the efforts and actions outlined in Defendants' earlier affidavits
filed pursuant to this section within fifteen (15) calendar days after
the change is implemented.
C. Defendants shall keep all records of all efforts made to
preserve and divest the Divestiture Assets until one year after such
divestiture has been completed.
XI. APPOINTMENT OF MONITORING TRUSTEE
A. Upon application of the United States, the Court shall appoint a
Monitoring Trustee selected by the United States and approved by the
Court.
[[Page 61468]]
B. The Monitoring Trustee shall have the power and authority to
monitor Defendants' compliance with the terms of this Final Judgment
and the Hold Separate Stipulation and Order entered by this Court, and
shall have such other powers as this Court deems appropriate. The
Monitoring Trustee shall be required to investigate and report on the
Defendants' compliance with this Final Judgment and the Hold Separate
Stipulation and Order and the Defendants' progress toward effectuating
the purposes of this Final Judgment, including but not limited to:
(1) Defendants' compliance with the terms of the Transition
Services Agreement; and
(2) Defendants' compliance with the terms listed in Section V,
``Other Required Conduct.''
C. Subject to Section XI.E. of this Final Judgment, the Monitoring
Trustee may hire at the cost and expense of Defendants any consultants,
accountants, attorneys, or other agents, who shall be solely
accountable to the Monitoring Trustee, reasonably necessary in the
Monitoring Trustee's judgment. Any such consultants, accountants,
attorneys, or other agents shall serve on such terms and conditions as
the United States approves, including confidentiality requirements and
conflict of interest certifications.
D. Defendants shall not object to actions taken by the Monitoring
Trustee in fulfillment of the Monitoring Trustee's responsibilities
under any Order of this Court on any ground other than the Monitoring
Trustee's malfeasance. Any such objections by Defendants must be
conveyed in writing to the United States and the Monitoring Trustee
within ten (10) calendar days after the action taken by the Monitoring
Trustee giving rise to the Defendants' objection.
E. The Monitoring Trustee shall serve at the cost and expense of
Defendants pursuant to a written agreement with Defendants and on such
terms and conditions as the United States approves including
confidentiality requirements and conflict of interest certifications.
The compensation of the Monitoring Trustee and any consultants,
accountants, attorneys, and other agents retained by the Monitoring
Trustee shall be on reasonable and customary terms commensurate with
the individuals' experience and responsibilities. If the Monitoring
Trustee and Defendants are unable to reach agreement on the Monitoring
Trustee's or any agents' or consultants' compensation or other terms
and conditions of engagement within fourteen (14) calendar days of
appointment of the Monitoring Trustee, the United States may, in its
sole discretion, take appropriate action, including making a
recommendation to the Court. The Monitoring Trustee shall, within three
(3) business days of hiring any consultants, accountants, attorneys, or
other agents, provide written notice of such hiring and the rate of
compensation to Defendants and the United States.
F. The Monitoring Trustee shall have no responsibility or
obligation for the operation of Defendants' businesses.
G. Defendants shall use their best efforts to assist the Monitoring
Trustee in monitoring Defendants' compliance with their individual
obligations under this Final Judgment and under the Hold Separate
Stipulation and Order. The Monitoring Trustee and any consultants,
accountants, attorneys, and other agents retained by the Monitoring
Trustee shall have full and complete access to the personnel, books,
records, and facilities relating to compliance with this Final
Judgment, subject to reasonable protection for trade secret or other
confidential research, development, or commercial information or any
applicable privileges. Defendants shall take no action to interfere
with or to impede the Monitoring Trustee's accomplishment of its
responsibilities.
H. After its appointment, the Monitoring Trustee shall file reports
quarterly, or more frequently as needed, with the United States, and,
as appropriate, the Court setting forth Defendants' efforts to comply
with its obligations under this Final Judgment and under the Hold
Separate Stipulation and Order. To the extent such reports contain
information that the Monitoring Trustee deems confidential, such
reports shall not be filed in the public docket of the Court.
I. The Monitoring Trustee shall serve until the divestiture of all
the Divestiture Assets is finalized pursuant to either Section IV or
Section VI of this Final Judgment and for so long as the Defendant's
obligations outlined in Section V persist.
J. If the United States determines that the Monitoring Trustee has
ceased to act or failed to act diligently or in a reasonably cost-
effective manner, it may recommend the Court appoint a substitute
Monitoring Trustee.
XII. COMPLIANCE INSPECTION
A. For the purposes of determining or securing compliance with this
Final Judgment, or of any related orders such as any Hold Separate or
Asset Preservation Order, or of determining whether the Final Judgment
should be modified or vacated, and subject to any legally recognized
privilege, from time to time authorized representatives of the United
States Department of Justice, including consultants and other persons
retained by the United States, shall, upon written request of an
authorized representative of the Assistant Attorney General in charge
of the Antitrust Division, and on reasonable notice to Defendants, be
permitted:
(1) access during Defendants' office hours to inspect and copy, or
at the option of the United States, to require Defendants to provide
hard copy or electronic copies of, all books, ledgers, accounts,
records, data, and documents in the possession, custody, or control of
Defendants, relating to any matters contained in this Final Judgment;
and
(2) to interview, either informally or on the record, Defendants'
officers, employees, or agents, who may have their individual counsel
present, regarding such matters. The interviews shall be subject to the
reasonable convenience of the interviewee and without restraint or
interference by Defendants.
B. Upon the written request of an authorized representative of the
Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division,
Defendants shall submit written reports or response to written
interrogatories, under oath if requested, relating to any of the
matters contained in this Final Judgment as may be requested.
C. No information or documents obtained by the means provided in
this Section XII shall be divulged by the United States to any person
other than an authorized representative of the executive branch of the
United States, except in the course of legal proceedings to which the
United States is a party (including grand jury proceedings), or for the
purpose of securing compliance with this Final Judgment, or as
otherwise required by law.
D. If at the time information or documents are furnished by
Defendants to the United States, Defendants represent and identify in
writing the material in any such information or documents to which a
claim of protection may be asserted under Rule 26(c)(1)(G) of the
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and Defendants mark each pertinent
page of such material, ``Subject to claim of protection under Rule
26(c)(1)(G) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure,'' then the United
States shall give Defendants ten (10) calendar days notice prior to
divulging such material in any legal proceeding (other than a grand
jury proceeding).
[[Page 61469]]
XIII. NO REACQUISITION
Defendants may not reacquire any part of the Divestiture Assets
during the term of this Final Judgment.
XIV. RETENTION OF JURISDICTION
This Court retains jurisdiction to enable any party to this Final
Judgment to apply to this Court at any time for further orders and
directions as may be necessary or appropriate to carry out or construe
this Final Judgment, to modify any of its provisions, to enforce
compliance, and to punish violations of its provisions.
XV. EXPIRATION OF FINAL JUDGMENT
Unless this Court grants an extension, this Final Judgment shall
expire ten (10) years from the date of its entry.
XVI. PUBLIC INTEREST DETERMINATION
Entry of this Final Judgment is in the public interest. The parties
have complied with the requirements of the Antitrust Procedures and
Penalties Act, 15 U.S.C. 16, including making copies available to the
public of this Final Judgment, the Competitive Impact Statement, and
any comments thereon and the United States' responses to comments.
Based upon the record before the Court, which includes the Competitive
Impact Statement and any comments and response to comments filed with
the Court, entry of this Final Judgment is in the public interest.
Dated this _ day of___, 2015.
Court approval subject to procedures of Antitrust Procedures and
Penalties Act, 15 U.S.C. 16
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United States District Judge
SCHEDULE A
List of products and functionality included in ``Divested
Product,'' as defined in Section II.L of this Final Judgment:
Dealertrack eCarList[supreg];
Dealertrack AAX[supreg];
Inventory+;
InventoryPro;
PriceDriver;
TrueTarget[supreg] (including TrueTarget[supreg] Appraisal and
TrueTarget[supreg] Pricing Reports);
TrueTarget[supreg] Mobile;
Inventory+Mobile (including Inventory+ for iPhone[supreg] and Android);
Inventory Management Stocking and Sourcing;
TrueScore;
Inventory+ Appraisal Workflow;
Inventory+ Merchandising;
AutoInk and eBay Listing and Merchandising Tools (including integrated
AutoInk description writer and direct distribution to leading Web sites
such as backpage.com, Craigslist, eBay Motors);
Dealer Web sites (eCarList only);
Dealertrack AutoReel[supreg] with TruVoice\TM\;
Inventory+ integrated, ``multi-site'' lead Management system (including
Email Lead Management);
Dealertrack Interactive Automated Incentives;
OutClick\TM\;
Inventory Health Report;
Lot Services;
PROShots;
Inventory+ New Car Pricing;
Dealertrack Inventory+ integration;
Inventory+ Multiplatform Listing;
Appraisal Central;
GroupTrade;
Software code for Inventory+ Exchange (including Social Trade and
OpenTrade) and its predecessor Dealertrack Marketplace;
Ability to enable Dealertrack SmartChat[supreg] reporting within
Inventory+ for customers who have both Inventory+ and
SmartChat[supreg]; and
Fully integrated access and interoperability with Broker Connection.
[FR Doc. 2015-26042 Filed 10-9-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P