European online car retailer Cazoo has agreed to purchase UK-based online commercial vehicle retailer Vans365 in an effort to expand its online product offerings.
The company will acquire Vans365 for £6.5m ($8.9m) in cash.
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The acquisition will combine Cazoo’s platform and brand with Vans365’s knowledge and connections in the commercial vehicle market.
It is also intended to help Cazoo advance its plan to enter the online commercial vehicle sector later this year.
Cazoo founder and CEO Alex Chesterman OBE said: “The market for commercial vehicles is worth £16bn annually, with more than a million vans sold each year in the UK, which expands our addressable market and is a natural product extension for us.
“The acquisition of Vans365 will accelerate our planned launch of buying and selling commercial vehicles online later this year and will enhance both our customer proposition and team. I look forward to welcoming the Vans365 team to Cazoo.”
Vans365 claims to be one of the UK’s leading independent online commercial vehicle retailers, with revenues of £14m and a 9% earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin forecast for the current fiscal year.
The company has in-house technicians and customer service specialists based in Bristol.
Vans365 managing director Jordan Franklin said: “Like Cazoo, customer obsession is at the heart of Vans365’s success and we’re delighted to be joining the Cazoo team to take our online proposition to the next level.
“We have built strong supply relationships and achieved excellent customer feedback with a great team who have strong sector expertise and are looking forward to joining forces with Cazoo.”
The deal is subject to approval from the UK Financial Conduct Authority and is expected to close in the next few weeks.
Cazoo has sold more than 40,000 cars online since its launch in 2018.
Last month, the company acquired automotive data insights platform Cazana for around £25m in cash.
