CarsDirect.com Acquires Greenlight.com

Online auto broker CarsDirect.com bought its struggling rival Greenlight.com in a deal that will send yet another e-commerce company to the Internet scrap heap. Privately held CarsDirect, based in Culver City, didn’t disclose the terms of the all-stock purchase. Once the takeover is complete in February, Greenlight will essentially go out of business and most, if not all, of its remaining 75 employees in Livermore, Calif., will lose their jobs. The most valuable assets CarsDirect picks up are Greenlight’s partnerships with about 500 dealers around the country and links to two Web sites with heavy traffic, Amazon.com and AutoTrader.com. In the 15 months ended March 2000, CarsDirect lost $144 million. Chief Executive Robert Brisco said the company still hasn’t made a profit.