Austin, Texas – IAS, a provider of F&I programs and technology to general agents and dealerships nationwide, announced a merger with First Dealer Resources (FDR) and its group of companies, which includes American Colonial Administration LLC, the Millennium Automotive Protection brands, and their automotive training institute (ICTI). Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
FDR’s automotive management consulting experts, line of vehicle service contract programs and university-level dealership training will round out IAS’ portfolio.
“For thirty years IAS has excelled at developing and administering ancillary products. And, if you know anything about FDR, you realize why its one of the most successful automotive management consulting firms of its kind in the industry. So the highly complementary and compelling acquisition of FDR decisively accelerates our vision of creating a single, dominant F&I company,” said Bob Corbin, CEO, IAS. “Providing our rapidly expanding network with a more robust portfolio of business and profit building resources, now complete with an industry leading VSC and cutting edge training is sure to open many doors for our agents and create new found profit centers for our dealers.”
As a result of this partnership, IAS enters the vehicle service contract market via acquisition with a full spectrum of products and a team already in place. Notable additions to the IAS executive team include Frank Klaus, former founder and CEO of FDR, who will now serve as president of VSC for IAS. Chris Kerby, former president and COO of FDR, will now serve as president of Sales, Marketing and Training for IAS; and Brad Hunter, president of American Colonial Administration, will continue in the same capacity. The FDR executive team, along with current employees, will continue to operate out of its existing facilities headquartered in Oklahoma City, Ok., and Dublin, Ohio providing the same level of personalized service their clients have become accustomed to.
“This is an excellent fit with extraordinary upside potential. By combining our strengths we ultimately create a preeminent market force with a significant competitive advantage, day one,” said Kerby. “An important consideration that makes this coalition work really well is the deep seeded trust and respect our teams already had for one another based on our long standing relationship that spans more than two decades. Most importantly, we’ll now have experts for each facet of the business and best of class offerings in each segment; and those resources will be accessible to our clients, agents and dealers.”
“This marks the beginning of an exciting time as the FDR products, services and personnel become a part of something even bigger and have the opportunity to create something even greater,” said Klaus. “Our demonstrated track record of success with F&I management, vehicle service contracts and world-class training coupled with our team of experienced employees perfectly plays into the IAS strategy.”
Agents and dealers who are interested in learning more about the new IAS product portfolio are invited to visit IAS at the Agent Summit at Caesar’s Hotel Las Vegas March 10-12, 2014 at booth #2 or in their private suite – Octavius 7.
