Online Car-Buying Firm Cazoo Sells Spanish Business

Online car-buying platform Cazoo has sold its Spanish subscription business.

In a Thursday (Dec. 15) press release, the U.K.-based online auto seller announced that it has sold Swipcar to Renting Finders. The financial details of the deal were not disclosed, but when Cazoo purchased Swipcar last year it paid 30 million euros for the startup.

The move is the latest phase of Cazoo’s withdrawal from the EU market, which was first announced in September.

In an effort to streamline its business and accelerate its journey to profitability, the firm made the strategic decision to focus exclusively on the U.K. market, where its business model has proven more viable and it enjoys a healthy market share.

By offloading Swipcar, a car subscription marketplace, the firm has finalized its exit from both Spain and Italy.

Having sold its Spanish and Italian assets, Cazoo said that it expects to conclude its withdrawal from France and Germany by the end of the year.

After expanding rapidly across Europe throughout 2021 and the first half of 2022, Cazoo’s decision to rein in its ambitions came as markets cooled and the company experienced a stock market devaluation of more than 80% in the first half of the year.

Accordingly, when it came to presenting its second-quarter results, Cazoo CEO Alex Chesterman appealed to investors by promising to double down on profitability.

At the time, Chesterman said the company would review its mainland Europe business model while outlining the consistency of its U.K. revenue streams. The strategy worked and Cazoo’s stock price bounced nearly 200%.

Fast-forward a month and Cazoo announced the decision to retreat from the EU; the company has been dismantling its continental operations since.

As well as a geographic withdrawal, Cazoo’s sale of Swipcar also reflects an increased focus on its core business — selling cars.

Whereas Cazoo’s acquisition of the Barcelona-based startup was a diagonal pivot into the subscription space, the company that bought Swipcar, Renting Finders, will benefit from synergies between rental market comparison and the auto subscription model.

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