By Mike Scarcella
(Reuters) – Automotive technology giant CDK Global has agreed to pay $630 million to settle antitrust claims that it caused hundreds of software vendors to overpay for vehicle dealership data by restricting access.
The proposed settlement, filed on Monday night in a federal court in Madison, Wisconsin, requires a judge’s approval.
The company denied any wrongdoing in agreeing to settle.
Austin, Texas-based CDK, owned by Brookfield Business Partners, sells software platforms auto dealers use to run their daily sales, financing and service operations.
Tech vendor AutoLoop and other companies included in the settlement create apps for the dealers’ management systems for inventory management, repair orders, warranty services and other functions.
AutoLoop sued CDK in 2018, accusing it of cutting off access to auto dealer systems and driving up prices vendors pay to access data for their apps. A judge certified the case as a class action in July.
CDK and lawyers for the company did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The vendors had indicated they would seek damages of $490 million at a trial previously scheduled for this week. A jury award could have been tripled under antitrust law.
The vendors who brought the class action include 243 companies that purchased data integration services since October 2013 from CDK or one of its rivals, Reynolds & Reynolds, which is not a defendant.
Lawyers for AutoLoop and other members of the class action at Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick called the settlement “extraordinary” in a statement and said it stemmed from “years of hard-fought litigation.” They said they would ask the court for about $200 million in legal fees.
CDK agreed to pay $100 million in August to settle a class action by U.S. auto dealerships claiming they overpaid for the company’s dealer management systems.
(Reporting by Mike Scarcella; Editing by David Bario and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
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