Cazoo to expand its offering into commercial vehicles

ONLINE retailer Cazoo has agreed to acquire Vans365, as it moves to expand its online retail proposition to include commercial vehicles.

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 and achieving excellent customer feedback with a 4.8 Trustpilot score.

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 over 40,000 cars online since its launch less than 2 years ago, as consumers have embraced the selection, value and convenience of buying and selling used cars entirely online.

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.

Cazoo will acquire Vans365, which will have 2021 revenues of c.£14m with an EBITDA margin of c.9%, for £6.5m in cash. The transaction is subject to FCA approval, anticipated in the coming weeks, and is expected to have a negligible impact on Cazoo’s FY2021 operating results.

Alex Chesterman, Cazoo’s founder and chief executive, said: “The market for commercial vehicles is worth £16bn 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.”