By Gursimran Kaur

(Reuters) – Retail technology and software provider CDK Global has begun work to restore systems used by over 15,000 retail locations across North America, the company said in a statement on Sunday, adding that it expects the process to take “several days.”

“We are continuing to actively engage with our customers and provide them with alternate ways to conduct business,” CDK said in an emailed statement.

Last week, a dealer who received a letter from CDK said the company informed him it could take several more days to get the systems up and running.

The company, which provides software to car dealerships, briefly shut down all its systems on Wednesday, saying it was investigating a cyber incident.

U.S. auto retailers Sonic Automotive and Penske Automotive flagged a hit to their operations on Friday, as CDK experienced a third consecutive day of outage.

Bloomberg News had previously reported that a group of hackers claiming responsibility for a cyberattack on CDK’s software systems has demanded millions of dollars in ransom to put an end to the hack.

Investment firm Brookfield Business Partners bought CDK in April 2022 for $6.41 billion, taking the last major publicly traded provider of software to auto dealers and manufacturers private.