Reynolds and Reynolds still on acquisition hunt

Retail technology giant Reynolds and Reynolds Co. remains on the hunt for acquisitions even after buying two companies last month, and more deal-making is possible this year yet, company President Chris Walsh told Automotive News.

Walsh first told Automotive News in February that the company would look for acquisitions in 2022 as part of its larger plan to bolster its product portfolio and offerings. Since then, the Dayton, Ohio-based dealership management system provider has completed two acquisitions.

Reynolds in early July bought Motility Software, which sells dealership management software to powersports and other specialty stores. Then, on July 29, it finalized a deal to buy Proton Dealership IT, a cybersecurity and information technology products and services provider.

But Reynolds is not done.

“We’ve got lots of things that we’re looking at right now, and again, I do think there’s opportunities within automotive to kind of diversify and get into areas that are not areas that are kind of our core competency but are still big needs,” Walsh said. “Proton’s a perfect example of that.”

Cybersecurity tools are in demand by dealerships right now, which is why the company sought to make a move in that space, he said.

“It’s not something where we’re nearly as good as [Proton is] on it, so it made sense to partner and leverage the resources and services that they already had,” Walsh said.

Reynolds is also eyeing the finance and insurance space for acquisition opportunities, he said.

The company bought retail technology vendor Gubagoo last year, a deal Walsh described as “huge.”