Mitchell International, Inc.

"Mitchell International" redirects here. For for the airport, see General Mitchell International Airport.

Mitchell International, Inc.

Type	Private
Industry	Software as a Service
Founded	1946
Founder(s)	Glenn Mitchell
Headquarters	San Diego, California
Key people	Larry Bossidy Chairman of the Board Alex Sun President and chief executive [1]
Revenue	$300 Million USD (2010)
Employees	1,700
Website	www.mitchell.com

Mitchell International, Inc. is a Privately held company Software Service provider founded in 1946 and based in San Diego, California. The Aurora Capital Group, a Los Angeles-based investment firm formed in 1991, is the holding company of Mitchell International.

Glenn Mitchell founded Mitchell Manuals in his garage in 1946, by creating an easily-used parts catalog for collision repair estimating. Mitchell had the idea of arranging collision parts by the quadrant of the car, rather than by component groups as in manufacturer catalogs. Eventually he added labor and paint times, which enabled a body shop or insurance company to do a repair estimate and generate a bill of materials and work orders. In the decades since, Mitchell has become a creator, consolidator and publisher of automotive information and software. It now distributes this information primarily to professional customers such as insurance companies, body shops and repair facilities. Part of the company, Mitchell Medical, processes over half of the automotive-related medical bills in the United States.

At one time Mitchell served a wide range of businesses across the collision, mechanical, parts and salvage industries. Under Thomson Corporation, which owned Mitchell from 1986 to 2000, a variety of other related companies were acquired, including American HazMat, National Auto Glass, Digitree, Wards Automotive, KLM, etc. In the 1990s Thomson sold its diagnostic and mechanical repair business to Snap-On Tools, which operates the business under the name Mitchell 1 Mitchell1.

Mitchell International is now focused on providing information and software services to insurance clients and body shops. It is one of the three largest auto collision repair information service providers in the North America (along with CCC and Solera) serving 30,000 collision repair facilities, independent adjusters, and other 'repair chain' participants.

Major business categories:

• Collision Repair
• Insurance Auto Physical Damage (APD)
• Medical Claims
• Liability & Injury
• Auto Glass

Many North American collision repair shops and insurance companies utilize Mitchell information to estimate labor times and the cost of replacement parts. At one time, most of Mitchell's information was delivered in books or microfiche, but now the information is in a variety of electronic formats.

Company milestones

• 1946 Company is founded by Glenn Mitchell. Glenn Mitchell produces the very first Collision Parts Publication.
• 1958 The first Glenn Mitchell Collision Estimator Guide is produced that includes labor times.
• 1977 The Mitchell Collision Estimating Guides now contain expanded Procedure Pages that make estimates even more accurate.
• 1983 Mitchell introduces "Mitchellmatix" portable electronic estimation.
• 1986 Thomson Corporation acquired the Mitchell International.
• 1988 Mitchell acquires Digitree and launches the "Collision Shop" body shop management system.
• 1989 Mitchell purchases KLM, enhancing its collision repair publications. Mitchell releases EstiMate utilizing CD-ROM, barcode technology.
• 1991 Mitchell acquires National Auto Glass Specifications, Inc. (NAGS), a publisher of auto glass parts catalogs and pricing lists.
• 1992 Mitchell introduces MIS Reporting (Advanced Information Management - AIM), digital imaging (ImageMate), and total loss valuation (ValueMate).
• 1993 The Mitchell Advanced Business System is introduced giving body shops a Windows-based management system.
• 1994 Mitchell acquires Medical Decision Systems, a publisher of medical cost containment software for bodily injury claims.
• 1994 Mitchell releases UltraMate and Quality Recycled Parts (QRP) Locator System.
• 1997 Jim Lindner is appointed President and CEO of Mitchell International, Inc.
• 2000 Hellman & Friedman LLC, a San Francisco-based private equity firm founded in 1984 purchases Mitchell from The Thomson Corporation.
• 2001 Mitchell purchases Ensera, Inc. As part of the Ensera purchase, Mitchell acquires AutocheX.
• 2002 Mitchell launches Cashflow, a web-based payment processing solution, and Salvage Management, a disposition and tracking tool.
• 2007 Mitchell International was acquired by Aurora Capital Group for about $500 million from Hellman & Friedman LLC.

Major Competitors

• CCC Information Services Group Inc.
• FICO (fic)
• Solera Holdings, Inc. (slh)

References

• Mitchell International Company Overview
• Mitchell International Company Profile
• Aurora Capital Wraps Up Mitchell Acquisition (San Diego Business Journal)
• Investment Group Led by Aurora Capital to Acquire Mitchell International

1. ^ Mitchell International's CFO eases into chief executive's chair: Alex Sun takes the helm after two-year transition