Beekman Group Portfolio Company Convenient Brands Acquires Web-Est, a Leading Provider of Collision Estimating Software to Independent Auto Body Shops

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Convenient Brands, Inc. (“Convenient Brands”), a leading provider of enterprise software and payment processing services to the auto dealership and auto repair industries, is pleased to announce that it has acquired Web-Est, LLC (“Web-Est”), a leading provider of collision estimating software to independent body shops in the U.S. Web-Est was co-founded in 2008 by Eric Seidel whose leadership of the company will transition to President, Carey Paris.

Most auto body shops use software to estimate the cost of parts and labor required for a vehicle repair and then use that cost estimate to get customer and insurance carrier approval. Web-Est provides an intuitive, browser-based estimating software platform that offers a seamless user experience and multiple proprietary tools, including ProAdvisor, an AI-guided tool that auto-populates vehicle data for the estimator, and Image Editor, a photo editor that enables the user to notate, highlight, crop, and zoom photos of damaged vehicles to provide a clearer estimate. Web-Est has generated attractive long term growth due to the effectiveness of its software and its ability to increase efficiency and estimating accuracy for customers.

“We congratulate Eric Seidel, Carey Paris and the Web-Est team on their strong momentum in the marketplace,” said James Clippard, Chairman of Convenient Brands and Managing Director of The Beekman Group, the majority owner of Convenient Brands. “Web-Est’s software automates a critical function for independent body shops and is complementary to other products that Convenient Brands offers, including our shop management software and payment processing tools. We look forward to working with Carey and his team towards offering a more complete software package to independent body shops and continuing to drive market share for Web-Est.”

Eric Seidel, CEO of Web-Est, added: “Since launching Web-Est, we have strived to provide accurate, high-value, logic-based estimating solutions at an affordable price to independent repair shops. With the support of Convenient Brands, we are poised to accelerate our growth trajectory while at the same time offering a larger set of solutions to our customers, enabling them with more automation and efficiency. I look forward to supporting both Carey Paris and Convenient Brands on their new path.”

About Convenient Brands

Convenient Brands is a platform of business technology companies that provide enterprise software and payment processing services, mainly to the auto dealership and auto aftermarket industries but also to customers in the government, property management, and other diversified industries. Convenient Brands is comprised of Mainstreet Computers (www.mainstreetcomputers.com), ROME Technologies (www.rometech.com), ImEX Systems (www.imexsystems.ca), We-Est (www.web-est.com), Intellipay (www.intellipay.com), and Dealer Pay (www.dealer-pay.com). Convenient Brands is headquartered in Draper, Utah and is a portfolio company of New York-based private investment firm, The Beekman Group.

About Web-Est:

Web-Est, LLC provides auto collision estimation software to independent auto body shops in the United States. The Company’s software enables body shops to complete repair estimates through a low-cost, high value, logic-based software solution. www.web-est.com

About The Beekman Group

The Beekman Group is a private equity firm, based in New York City, focused on building industry-leading companies in the healthcare, consumer, and business services sectors. The firm partners with management teams who desire to be significant owners and create meaningful value by accelerating organic and acquisition growth initiatives. Beekman manages over $1 billion in assets and has completed over 200 transactions since inception.www.thebeekmangroup.com.