June 6, 2016—OEConnection LLC (OEC) announced Thursday that Providence Equity Partners, a global private equity firm with $45 billion in assets, will acquire a majority equity stake. 

General Motors and Ford will each maintain a 15 percent minority stake in OEC that they established in 2000. 

“Providence has a thorough understanding of OEC’s business model and market opportunities as well as a proven track record of successful partnerships and investments in similar companies,” OEC president and CEO Chuck Rotuno said. “We look forward to leveraging their resources and expertise to expand our global client base, and make it easier for our customers everywhere to grow their parts and service business.”

OEC is a leader in technology solutions for the sale and distribution of OE parts and serves more than 20 OEMs and 100,000 dealership and repair customers. 

“OEC is a unique, high growth technology solutions company led by an outstanding management team and backed by two world-class automotive companies,” said Davis Noell, managing director at providence equity partners. “We are excited to partner with management, Ford and GM to help accelerate OEC’s growth strategy, both organically and through acquisition, and add lasting value to the company.”

The deal is expected to close by the end of Q2 2016.