Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE: LAD) announced we have entered into a
strategic partnership with Shift, a San Francisco-based ecommerce
retailer using technology to simplify the car purchasing and ownership
experience. In addition, Lithia will lead Shift's Series D fundraising
round, investing $54 million, and become the largest shareholder. Since
inception, Shift has raised over $265 million in debt and equity.
Shift's innovative platform provides consumers a digital purchase and
selling experience, utilizing a concierge to pick up and deliver
vehicles whenever and wherever they choose. Shift currently operates
throughout California, is the largest used car retailer in San Francisco
and will sell approximately 8,000 vehicles in 2018. For more
information, visit www.shift.com.
This partnership allows both companies to share and scale technology,
data, inventory, business relationships and physical network to capture
more of the over 40 million used vehicles sold in the United States
annually. Combining the second largest, owned online inventory and data
on over 12 million vehicle transactions with a world-class engineering
and design team furthers our seamless omni-channel retail experience.
Mutually identified areas of collaboration accelerate Shift's growth
while meaningfully increasing our ownership as success is realized. In
the future, there are multiple options for monetization depending on
Shift's growth trajectory and capital needs.
"We're impressed with Shift's technology platform and dynamic
operational capabilities," said Bryan DeBoer, President and CEO. "Like
us, they are creating a digital marketplace and providing a retail
experience wherever, whenever and however consumers desire. We are
thrilled to have the opportunity to partner with a company that is a
great cultural fit."
"Since our first meeting with the Lithia team, we were happy to discover
we shared many of the same company values, including the desire to make
car buying and selling more affordable, accessible, and transparent,"
said Shift Co-CEO Toby Russell. "This collaboration gives us the
resources we need to double-down on our technology investments and scale
more quickly and efficiently. As our company enters this new growth
stage, we cannot think of a better partner to have by our side."
Conference Call and Presentation
Lithia's management will host a conference call on Thursday, September
13, 2018 at 4:00 p.m. EDT to discuss the strategic partnership. The call
may be accessed by telephone at (877) 407-8029. To listen live on our
website or for replay, visit www.lithiainvestorrelations.com
and click on webcasts.
A presentation summarizing the partnership has been added to www.lithiainvestorrelations.com.
About Lithia
Lithia Motors, Inc. is one of the largest providers of personal
transportation solutions in the United States and is among the fastest
growing companies in the Fortune 500 (#294-2018). Consumers can buy,
sell and service vehicles digitally or through our 183 nationwide
locations. Our mission statement, Growth Powered by People, drives us to
continuously improve and to give back to our communities.
Sites
www.lithia.com
www.lithiainvestorrelations.com
www.lithiacareers.com
Lithia Motors on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/LithiaMotors
Lithia Motors on Twitter
http://twitter.com/lithiamotors
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180913005145/en/
Lithia Motors, Inc.
John North, 541-618-5748
Senior Vice
President and Chief Financial Officer