Jobs cut after DealerSocket acquisition

The software provider that acquired dealership technology company DealerSocket this year has laid off an unspecified number of employees.

An executive with Solera Holdings Inc., which specializes in vehicle life-cycle management software products that include fleet and collision claims administration and vehicle repair, confirmed last week that the company eliminated positions but would not disclose how many. Evan Davies, Solera's chief technology officer and head of product, would not confirm when the job cuts occurred, though Automotive News learned from multiple former employees and social media posts that they took place in July.

Davies also declined to say whether Sejal Pietrzak, DealerSocket's CEO before the acquisition, continues to work for the combined company. Phone messages left for Pietrzak last week were not returned. Pietrzak was named one of Automotive News' 100 Leading Women in the North American Auto Industry in 2020.

"We are determined to create a stellar company that delivers value to our customers and the market at large," the company said in a statement. "Solera is stronger and more focused because of the decisions we made this summer. We truly respect and appreciate all the hard work our former employees conducted and we wish them the best."

Davies said when companies merge, there are "inherent duplications of potential roles."

"And so part of what we can do as a multibillion-dollar company is leverage the capabilities of the larger organization to serve the entire [market]," he said. "And as a result of that, we're able to, again, understand how best to apply the talent that we have against the needs that we have for the company and for our customers."

Steve Zadoorian, who stepped down from his role as DealerSocket's senior vice president of operations and customer care at the end of July, said he was not informed of the layoffs before employees were notified July 19.

Zadoorian previously was chief customer officer and chief information officer for Auto/Mate, the franchised dealership management system provider DealerSocket acquired in February 2020. Affected employees came from multiple departments, he said.

Solera, based in Westlake, Texas, completed its acquisition of DealerSocket and fleet management software provider Omnitracs in June. Solera, DealerSocket and Omnitracs all were portfolio companies of private equity firm Vista Equity Partners. Vista bought a stake in DealerSocket in 2014.

Davies said, for now, Solera intends to continue using the DealerSocket and Auto/Mate names.

"These brands themselves have value in the marketplace," he said. "We have no plans at this point in time to retire those brands."

DealerSocket's product lineup, particularly its DMS and customer relationship management systems, complement Solera's other dealership tools, Davies said. Dealership customers can benefit from more software tools and deeper integrations between DealerSocket's and Solera's products, he said.

Solera's acquisition of DealerSocket and Omnitracs could indicate Vista Equity Partners is considering taking the company public, The Dallas Morning News reported in May.

In March, Vista Equity Partners reportedly considered taking Solera public through a special-purpose acquisition company, Apollo Strategic Growth Capital, according to Bloomberg. The combination of DealerSocket and Omnitracs with Solera could value the deal at roughly $15 billion, though the deal was halted that same month, Bloomberg reported.

Davies declined to comment last week on whether Solera plans to go public.

Employees of auto retail technology companies took to LinkedIn in recent weeks to post job opportunities and offers to help affected DealerSocket employees find new roles, using the hashtag #hiredealersocket.

Subi Ghosh was among them. In 2014, Ghosh said, she landed a new position at dealership marketing company Dealer Authority after a layoff — and a similar social media campaign, #hiresubi.

Ghosh, now executive vice president of strategic partnerships for marketing provider Stream Cos., which works with dealerships, said last week that Stream has made one job offer and is having conversations with former DealerSocket employees. She also has recommended some job candidates to other companies.

The auto industry is "gigantic, but it's still really small and connected," she said. "Seeing such a vast number of people who are really talented getting let go in a time that's already really challenging, I think each of us, every organization, we've got to do our part to help us kind of pull back up and sustain our own industry."

Zadoorian said he has been contacted by four companies with openings asking about possible candidates. He said he is serving as a reference for former colleagues affected by the layoffs. The outpouring of support from the industry, he said, "has been fantastic."