An Illinois federal court approved a preliminary settlement between a class of dealership plaintiffs and defendant, CDK Global, in the lawsuit, In re: Dealer Management Systems Antitrust Litigation, MDL No. 2817, 18-cv-00864 (N.D. Ill.). The settlement will resolve all remaining claims on behalf of dealerships involving an alleged conspiracy by CDK and Reynolds to charge unlawful prices in the markets for Dealer Management System Services and Data Integration Services.

As part of the settlement, CDK has agreed to pay $100 million for the benefit of U.S.-based retail automotive dealerships that bought a Reynolds and/or CDK DMS from Sept. 1, 2013, through Aug. 15, 2024. CDK will also pay up to $250,000 for notice and claims administration costs. This settlement does not constitute any admission of wrongdoing or liability by any party, and was entered solely to avoid the further inconvenience, distraction and disruption of burdensome litigation and to reach certain and final resolution between CDK and dealerships.

Dealership counsel and the Settlement Administrator are providing no cost assistance to dealerships to file their claim forms – no additional assistance from third parties is needed. Information about the claim submission process is available on the website.

A prior settlement with Reynolds in the amount of $29.5 million was previously approved by the court and finalized in 2019, and that money is currently in an escrow account. If any dealer bought a CDK and/or Reynolds DMS from Sept. 1, 2013, through Aug. 15, 2024, that dealer may be entitled to money back from one or both of the settlements. If the Court gives final approval to the CDK settlement, the allocation of the funds from both the settlements will be determined based upon several factors, including the number of claims filed. Once the Court has approved the distribution of the settlement funds, the settlement proceeds will be distributed as approved by the Court.