Dominion Enterprises Acquires AVV, Inc. Assets

NORFOLK, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dominion Enterprises, a leading marketing services company, announced today that it has acquired substantially all the assets of AVV, Inc., the company that developed the automotive retail industry’s top Internet Lead Management (ILM) software, Web Control®. The purchase price for the acquisition was $22.75 million.

“We are delighted to be part of an organization that recognizes the potential of our employees and products and has shown such strong commitment to the automotive industry. Dominion Enterprises will be the perfect place for us to take the Web Control solution to the next level”

Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Westerville, Ohio, AVV provides lead management and polling support to more than 2,300 automotive dealerships nationwide and employs 42 people. Web Control received Auto Dealer Monthly's 2007 Dealers’ Choice “Diamond” Award as the industry’s top-rated customer relationship management tool based on productivity, vendor support and dealership value. AVV was acquired by Autobytel Inc. in 2003.

Conrad M. Hall, president and chief executive officer of Dominion Enterprises, said of the acquisition, “At Dominion Enterprises, our goal is to help auto dealers increase sales with innovative products and services. The Web Control tool brings accountability and tracking to the automotive sales process so that dealers can sell more cars. It’s a perfect fit.”

“The increasing number of sales leads coming from the Internet requires dealers to have a system in place to manage those leads. As the top ILM company in the industry, AVV is an excellent solution for dealers and a great complement to other Dominion Enterprises’ automotive businesses such as Autobase and Dealerskins,” said Robert M. Berndt, president of Dominion Enterprises’ automotive group. “We want the Dominion name to be associated with excellent products, and AVV’s Web Control is a premier brand.”

Ed Braunbeck, vice president and general manager of AVV, will continue to lead the business. “We are delighted to be part of an organization that recognizes the potential of our employees and products and has shown such strong commitment to the automotive industry. Dominion Enterprises will be the perfect place for us to take the Web Control solution to the next level,” said Braunbeck.

Dominion Enterprises’ automotive group provides innovative marketing and data solutions to help dealers effectively manage their customers and prospects and sell more cars. The portfolio of businesses includes: Autobase, the pioneer of customer relationship management (CRM) tools; Dealerskins, a premier Web design and solutions provider; Dealer Specialties, the nation’s leader in delivering photo and video collection services, inventory management and Internet data distribution services; @utoRevenue, an industry leader in delivering comprehensive multi-channel customer contact solutions; InterActive Financial Marketing Group, a special finance lead generation and marketing company serving franchise auto dealers nationwide; GetAuto.com, XIGroup, DataCube, SelectQu, DataOne Software, Cross-Sell, and Mailmark.

About AVV

AVV, a division of Dominion Enterprises, is the leading provider of Internet-based sales and customer management systems for the automotive retail industry. AVV’s client management tools, such as Web Control®, help dealerships save time, boost productivity, improve customer contacts and increase profits. With Web Control, dealers can focus on attracting, growing and retaining profitable customer relationships. For more information, visit www.AVV.com.

About Dominion Enterprises

Dominion Enterprises, a division of Landmark Communications, is a leading marketing services company serving the automotive, real estate, apartment, recruitment, and marine markets. The company operates a variety of businesses that offer Internet marketing, Web site design and hosting, lead generation, CRM, and data capture and distribution services. The company has more than 40 market-leading Web sites reaching more than 12.5 million unique monthly visitors, and more than 500 magazines with a weekly circulation of over 5 million. Headquartered in Norfolk, Va., the company has nearly 6,000 employees nationwide and annualized revenue of more than $946 million. For more information, visit http://www.DominionEnterprises.com.