Cazoo expands into commercial vehicles after buying Bristol-based Vans365

By Nicky Godding

19 October 2021

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Cazoo, Europe’s leading online car retailer, has agreed to acquire Bristol-based Vans365, as it moves to expand its online retail proposition to include commercial vehicles.

Cazoo will acquire Vans365, which will have 2021 revenues of c.£14 million, for £6.5m in cash. The transaction is subject to FCA approval, anticipated in the coming weeks.

The news follows our story last month which revealed Cazoo's acquisition of Worcester based SMH Fleet Solutions, one of the UK’s leading vehicle preparation, logistics and storage businesses, for £70 million. Cazoo acquired SMH from the private investment company LDC and other minority shareholders.

https://www.businessinnovationmag.co.uk/cazoo-pays-70-million-for-worcester-car-storage-and-vehicle-prep-business-smh-fleet-solutions/

Vans365 is a leading independent online commercial vehicle retailer in the UK with a team of experienced in-house technicians and customer service specialists based in Bristol, buying and selling hundreds of vans monthly.

The deal will combine Cazoo’s world-class platform and brand with Vans365’s expertise and relationships in the commercial vehicle market and will enhance Cazoo’s customer offering and team and accelerate its planned launch into buying and selling commercial vehicles online later this year.

Cazoo is one of the fastest growing businesses in Europe, pioneering the shift to online car buying and selling and has already sold more than 40,000 cars online since its launch less than two years ago.

Cazoo owns and fully reconditions all of its cars before offering them on its website for either delivery or collection in as little as 72 hours and has thousands of cars available at any time. Its launch into commercial vehicles later this year will further expand the proposition and selection available on its website.

Alex Chesterman OBE, Founder & CEO of Cazoo said: “The market for commercial vehicles is worth £16 billion annually, with over 1 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 and I look forward to welcoming the Vans365 team to Cazoo.”

Jordan Franklin, Managing Director of Vans365 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.”

By Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe.

After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts.

She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.