ACQ AutoCanada Inc

EDMONTON, AB, June 24, 2024 /CNW/ - On June 19, 2024, CDK Global ("CDK"), a third-party provider of information systems used by AutoCanada Inc. ("AutoCanada" or the "Company") (TSX: ACQ), announced that it was experiencing a cyber incident and had shut down a majority of its systems, including systems necessary to support our dealer management system ("DMS"). Our DMS supports our dealership operations, including our sales, service, inventory, and accounting functions.

AutoCanada immediately took precautionary measures to protect our systems and is reviewing the potential impact of the incident, which efforts remain ongoing. We have not identified any compromise or unauthorized access to our systems. This incident has had, and is likely to continue to have, a negative impact on the Company's business operations until the relevant systems are fully restored. Our dealerships remain open, and we are continuing to sell and service vehicles, and otherwise serve our customers, through manual and alternative processes.

As the incident is ongoing, the full scope, nature and impact of the incident, including the extent to which the threat actor may have accessed any customer or vendor data maintained by CDK through the DMS, are not yet known. The incident remains ongoing, and as such, AutoCanada has not yet determined the full scope and impact of this event.

AutoCanada is a leading North American multi-location automobile dealership group currently operating 84 franchised dealerships, comprised of 28 brands, in eight provinces in Canada as well as a group in Illinois, USA. AutoCanada currently sells Acura, Alfa Romeo, Audi, BMW, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, FIAT, Ford, GMC, Honda, Hyundai, Infiniti, Jeep, Kia, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, MINI, Nissan, Porsche, Ram, Subaru, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Volvo branded vehicles. In addition, AutoCanada's Canadian Operations segment currently operates 3 used vehicle dealerships and 1 used vehicle auction business supporting the Used Digital Retail Division, 13 RightRide division locations, and 11 stand-alone collision centres within our group of 27 collision centres. In 2023, the Company generated revenues in excess of $6 billion and our dealerships sold over 100,000 retail vehicles.

Certain statements contained in this press release are forward-looking statements and information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation. We hereby provide cautionary statements identifying important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those identified in these forward-looking statements. Any statements that express, or involve discussions as to, expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, through the use of words or phrases such as "will likely result", "are expected to", "will continue", "is anticipated", "projection", "vision", "goals", "objective", "target", "schedules", "outlook", "anticipate", "expect", "estimate", "could", "should", "plan", "seek", "may", "intend", "likely", "will", "believe" and similar expressions) are not historical facts and are forward looking. In particular, this press release contains forward-looking statements with respect to, among other things, our assessment of the scope and impact of the CDK cyber incident on the Company and our ability to mitigate the impact of the incident on our business and operations.

AutoCanada cautions that the foregoing list of assumptions, risks and uncertainties is not exhaustive and may be impacted by, among other things, ongoing risks arising as a result of the CDK cyber incident and our ability to mitigate and address those risks and impacts. The Company's Annual Information Form and other documents filed with securities regulatory authorities (accessible through the SEDAR website at www.sedarplus.com) describe the risks, material assumptions and other factors that could influence actual results and which are incorporated herein by reference. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof and AutoCanada assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances, except as may be required pursuant to applicable securities laws.

Additional information about AutoCanada is available at the Company's website at www.autocan.ca and www.sedarplus.ca.

SOURCE AutoCanada Inc.