U.K.-based online used car seller Cazoo on Monday (Oct. 18) announced that it has agreed to acquire Vans365 in a move that expands the company’s reach into the commercial vehicle space.
Vans365 has its own in-house technicians and customer service reps in Bristol, U.K., and it buys and sells hundreds of vans every month. The pairing brings together Cazoo’s platform and brand with Vans365’s relationships within and knowledge of the commercial vehicle market.
The market for commercial vehicles is about 16 billion pounds (almost $22 billion) annually and there are more than 1 million vans sold every year in the U.K., Alex Chesterman, founder and CEO of Cazoo, said in the announcement. The Vans365 acquisition “expands our addressable market and is a natural product extension for us,” he said.
“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, and I look forward to welcoming the Vans365 team to Cazoo,” Chesterman said.
Cazoo has sold more than 40,000 cars online since it debuted less than two years ago. The company owns and reconditions all the cars in its inventory before posting them for sale for either delivery or pickup within 72 hours.
Cazoo will pay 6.5 million pounds (more than $8.9 million) in cash for Vans365 when the deal is completed, subject to Financial Conduct Authority approval, which is expected in the coming weeks, the companies said.
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“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,” said Jordan Franklin, managing director of Vans365, in the joint announcement. “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.”
Related: UK Online Car Retailer Cazoo Projects $1B in Revenue by the End of 2021
Cazoo Holdings sold more than 20,000 cars in the first half of the year, up from the 4,084 it sold during the first half of 2020. Revenue increased 521% to 248 million pounds ($340.6 million).
