Raycom Media Acquires PureCars for $125M

When a $125 million deal happens for a company rooted in Silicon Harbor, you know that Charleston has officially made the map as a tech hub. Raycom Media acquired Charleston-based PureCars, the leading digital advertising platform for the automotive industry. The deal is the broadcasting group’s largest ever single-company, non-broadcast acquisition, and it fundamentally changes the media landscape by bridging the gap between digital and broadcast advertising.

Since founding PureCars in 2007, CEO Jeremy Anspach has led the company to become the leading digital advertising platform for the automotive industry. With over 150 employees and three offices, PureCars utilizes its extensive data library and proprietary technology to automatically target the right buyer with the right vehicle in the right location, optimizing ad spend and maximizing ROI.

Watch the video of the acquisition announcement:

PureCars’ platform suite offers various marketing solutions to drive high-probability buyers to a dealer’s site, optimize traffic once on their site, and convert those customers in the showroom.

Raycom Media, an employee-owned company, is headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama. In addition to television stations, Raycom Media owns several distribution and production companies nationwide. The multi-million dollar deal allows the company to gain PureCars’ digital media and advertising expertise in order to secure advertising dollars beyond the 51 television stations in 38 markets they currently operate.

“At Raycom, our automotive vertical team visits dealers in each of our markets, and we ask them who is doing new and highly effective things in the marketplace, and each one of them came back with PureCars,” said Joe Fiveash, Vice President of digital media, strategy, and business development at Raycom Media. “The people these dealers work with at PureCars are knowledgeable, informative and they have just the right level of involvement.”

Used by thousands of dealers, dealer groups, local marketing associations and agencies across the country, PureCars is one of the largest and fastest growing digital advertising platforms for the automotive industry. Ranked No. 335 on the ninth annual Inc. 500|5000, PureCars has experienced nearly 1400 percent growth and received $10 million in funding over three years.

With digital advertising expenditures from dealers and manufacturers expected to increase in 2016 from $3.44 billion in Q2 2015, Raycom will now be able to access that valuable market with PureCars’ expertise.

“With this partnership, PureCars and Raycom will provide a comprehensive advertising strategy for local car dealerships, but also a model for today’s media industry as a whole,” said Anspach. “Today’s consumer jumps from screen to screen, and marketers struggle to provide relevant advertising throughout the customer journey. With Raycom’s broadcasting reach and our digital expertise, the consumer will benefit from a seamless advertising experience of content catered to their desires and interests.”

PureCars will operate as a separate unit within Raycom Media and maintain its development campus in Atlanta and offices in Charleston and Milwaukee. The combination will allow for a cohesive platform that unifies traditional and digital advertising across television, desktop, tablet, and mobile.

“We’re proud to be one of the largest automotive technology acquisitions to date,” said PureCars COO Sam Mylrea. “Our customers depend on us to bring shoppers to the lot with relevant, customized digital advertising. With Raycom’s broadcast resources, we’ll extend that positive customer experience to television where car dealerships already market their goods to local consumers. Together we will deliver the ideal user experience in local markets nationwide.”