Founder of URG Thrilled by FTC’s Proposed Consent Order Requiring Solera Holdings to Divest Assets from Actual Systems

Auto Recycling Industry Consultant Ron Sturgeon Says FTC’s Order Good for Recyclers, Parts Buyers and Consumers

 

July 23, 2013 – Fort Worth, TX – Yesterday, the Federal Trade Commission announced a proposed consent order that would require Solera Holdings, Inc. to divest assets it purchased from Actual Systems in 2012. The Federal Trade Commission objected to the combination of two of the three largest providers of auto recycling yard management software on the grounds that such a combination is anti-competitive.

The FTC’s proposed consent order gives Solera 120 days to sell the assets related to Actual Systems, the maker of Pinnacle yard management software, to ASA Holdings, a group composed of former Actual Systems managers. It requires Solera to license the Hollander Interchange to ASA for ten years.

“I am happy to see this happening again,” said Ron Sturgeon, a founder of United Recyclers Group, a consortium of recyclers that worked with Actual Systems to create Pinnacle over a decade ago to foster competition in the yard management software market.

“Ten plus years has blurred people’s memories of the last time that the FTC took action to prevent one player from dominating the auto recycling yard management software space,” said Sturgeon. “The FTC was as right then as it is now to block such a combination,” said Sturgeon, who called the proposed consent order “a win for the industry, used auto parts buyers and consumers.”

“Pinnacle users and the industry have been in limbo while waiting for regulatory guidance. I’m glad to see it moving and I hope that it wraps up quickly so that users of both systems will know where they stand,” said Sturgeon.

Ron Sturgeon is an auto salvage consultant, frequent platform speaker to salvage industry trade associations and a founding member of URG. He grew his recycling business from one yard to one of the largest in the United States before selling it to Ford Motor Company. United Recyclers Group is an industry association for auto recyclers.

 

 

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Cutline: Ron Sturgeon is a consultant to the auto salvage industry and frequent speaker to recycling groups on topics relating to marketing and benchmarking with