Copart, the salvage-vehicle auction giant, agreed to buy online car marketplace ACV Auctions for $1.9 billion in cash, the two companies said Thursday, in what Copart called the largest acquisition in its history.
Under the merger agreement, Copart will launch a tender offer for all outstanding ACV shares at $10.50 apiece, a 45% premium to ACV's closing price on Aug. 10, before reports of a potential deal emerged, and a 41% premium to its 30-day volume-weighted average price, according to a joint press release filed with the SEC. ACV shares, which closed at $7.22 before the announcement, jumped more than 40% in after-hours trading. Copart is funding the all-cash deal from cash on hand, with no financing condition attached.
Building an End-to-End Auction Platform
The combination pairs Copart's salvage-vehicle business, which processes roughly 5 million vehicles a year mainly for insurers, with ACV's digital wholesale marketplace connecting franchise and independent dealers, which handles closer to 20 million vehicles annually. Copart said the deal creates a fully digital platform spanning dealer trade-ins, wholesale remarketing, salvage disposition and international resale — stitching together pieces of the used-car supply chain that have historically been handled by separate auction houses.
"This acquisition reflects a significant milestone in our growth strategy by creating an industry-leading end-to-end vehicle remarketing platform that is fully digital."
Jay Adair, CEO, Copart
ACV Chief Executive George Chamoun framed the deal as a scale play for a company that built its business on digitizing inspections and vehicle-condition reports for dealers. "By joining forces with Copart, we will be positioned to advance our mission, drive market expansion, and accelerate innovation with global scale," he said. ACV will continue operating under its own leadership as an independent subsidiary, and roughly 4.1% of its outstanding stock is already committed to the tender under support agreements signed by certain large holders.
Both companies' boards approved the deal unanimously. Closing is expected by the end of the year, subject to a majority of ACV shares tendering and clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino antitrust review. Copart said the acquisition should be neutral to earnings per share in its first full year and turn accretive starting in fiscal 2028, with cost and revenue synergies expected across the combined auction network, though it disclosed no specific dollar targets. The deal marks Copart's most significant strategic move since building out its international salvage operations, and signals consolidation pressure building across the fragmented vehicle-remarketing industry as more of the used-car trade shifts online.
