In a story from the ‘inevitable’ department…Cazoo is set to acquire Vans365 for around £6.5m cash, as it moves to expand its online retail proposition to include commercial vehicles.
Any self-respecting dealer reading this will feel yet another shiver down his/her/their back at this news.
Bristol-based Vans365 comes with a readymade team and a customer base. It’s a clever an not-too-costly entry into commercial vehicles for the ever-growing monolith that is Cazoo. And they seem to know what they’re doing, as ever.
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.
Alex Chesterman OBE, Founder & CEO of Cazoo 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.”
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.”
Watch out. Don’t say we haven’t warned you.