Auto Auction Giant Copart to Acquire ACV Auctions for $1.9 Billion; ACVA Surges Over 44% Pre-Market

TradingKey - After the market close on September 10 ET, auto auction company Copart (CPRT) announced a definitive merger agreement with digital automotive marketplace ACV Auctions (ACVA), under which Copart will acquire ACV for approximately $1.9 billion in cash. Following the announcement, in pre-market trading on September 11, ACV surged over 44%, while Copart rose over 7%.

[Source: TradingView]

Under the agreement, Copart will acquire all outstanding shares of ACV common stock for $10.50 per share in cash, representing an equity value of approximately $1.9 billion. The offer price represents a premium of approximately 45% over ACV's closing price on August 10 and a premium of approximately 41% over its 30-day volume-weighted average price as of September 9.

Copart will fund the acquisition using cash on hand, and the transaction is not subject to any financing conditions. The boards of directors of both companies have unanimously approved the transaction, which is expected to close by the end of 2026. Closing of the transaction is subject to conditions including the tender of a majority of ACV's outstanding shares and the expiration of the waiting period under U.S. antitrust review.

As of September 8, ACV shareholders who have executed support agreements collectively hold approximately 4.1% of the outstanding shares. Upon completion of the transaction, ACV will become an independently operated, wholly owned subsidiary of Copart, with its existing management team continuing to lead company operations.

Copart primarily operates online auctions for salvage and used vehicles, with over 250 locations across 11 countries, having sold over 4 million vehicles in the past year. ACV focuses on digital wholesale vehicle transactions between dealers, offering vehicle inspection, condition data, and artificial intelligence valuation tools.

In 2025, approximately 829,300 vehicles were transacted on ACV's platform, with total transaction volume reaching $10.4 billion. Following the acquisition of ACV, Copart will rapidly expand its dealer wholesale business and integrate its existing buyer network and physical locations with ACV's digital platform. With the expanded business scope, market overlap between Copart and platforms such as Cox Automotive's Manheim may increase.

Copart expects the transaction to be broadly neutral to earnings per share in the first full fiscal year following completion, and accretive to earnings per share starting in fiscal year 2028. However, the transaction remains subject to the shareholder tender offer and antitrust review, and the effectiveness of business integration remains to be verified by subsequent operational data.