A Beverly Hills company that previously concentrated on auto leasing — Fair Technologies — has been purchased by used-car purchase company Shift Technologies Inc. of San Francisco.
Shift said it's paying $15 million in cash for Fair Technologies, plus some shares of Shift stock. To finance the deal, Shift (Nasdaq: SFT) said it's made a deal with SoftBank Group, which has agreed to purchase $20 million in unsecured notes, which will be used to fund the acquisition.
“Fair and Shift have extremely complementary cultures, and our platform and marketplace fit naturally into Shift’s operating model and long-term vision," said Fair CEO Brad Stewart in a statement. "Having overseen Fair’s transition from an app-based vehicle subscription service to a comprehensive lender-integrated e-commerce solution, I’ve had the privilege of viewing the opportunity in digital automotive from all sides and am convinced this acquisition will yield the scale, optionality and tech-focused expertise that are the key to success in the industry."
Stewart was named CEO of Fair in May 2020 after serving as CEO of XOJet, an on-demand private aviation services platform. In August 2021, Fair officially changed its name to Fair Technologies and said it would shift its focus by adding the ability for consumers to purchase vehicles from a network of third-party dealer partners. The company said then that it expected to officially launch in select markets during the first quarter of this year.
Fair was founded in 2016 by Scott Painter after he left online car buying marketplace TrueCar, which he founded in 2005. Painter resigned from Fair in 2019 after steep job cuts at the company.
