British online car retailer, Cazoo, has announced that it has acquired Smart Fleet Solutions (SFS), a UK-based independent vehicle reconditioning and storage specialist, for an undisclosed sum.
This deal follows Cazoo’s recent acquisition of Drover, another UK-based car subscription platform that enabled Cazoo to offer its customers the option of purchasing, financing, or subscribing to the cars on its website with an aim to transform the car buying experience in the country.
About Smart Fleet Solutions
SFS is a vehicle refurbishment expert company. It offers technical services including the collection and vehicle appraisal, refurbishment, storage, loose-item management, and vehicle imagery.
With over 500 staff and 4 vehicle refurbishment facilities in Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire, Wiltshire, and Scotland, SFS claims to process over 100,000 vehicles annually with storage for more than 20,000 vehicles.
Theo Kortland, MD of Smart Fleet Solutions says, “Our focus on innovation and efficiency has enabled us to win and retain a number of key customers over the years and we are delighted to be joining forces with the Cazoo team. They have a clear vision and strategy for our business and are fully committed to making the investments required to continue to serve our existing customers and to further grow and develop the SFS business over the coming years.”
Aim of this acquisition
With this development, Cazoo aims to use SFS’s infrastructure and expertise to provide both the companies to further scale their national reconditioning and storage capabilities with significant growth plans.
Alex Chesterman, founder & CEO of Cazoo says, “We are excited to have acquired SFS given its infrastructure and vehicle processing capacity as well as its dedicated team of over 500 vehicle preparation experts. It will remain a standalone business run by Theo and his team and we look forward to working with them and to investing in continuing to serve its customers and growing the SFS business further.”
What does Cazoo offer?
The company aims to become the “Uber” of the “used car marketplace”. Cazoo claims that it wants its customers’ car buying experience to be seamless, transparent, and convenient just like purchasing any other product online.
The company lists thousands of cars in stock at any time, all stored centrally in the Midlands. They are available either for home delivery anywhere in the UK or collection from one of its Cazoo Customer Centres within 72 hours. Every Cazoo car comes with a full 7-day money-back guarantee and a comprehensive 90-day warranty.
Cazoo was founded in 2018 by serial entrepreneur Alex Chesterman OBE. And, since its launch, the platform has already delivered over 15,000 cars to consumers.
Recent Cazoo fundings
In October 2020, Cazoo raised £240M (approx €265M) in funding led by General Catalyst, D1 Capital Partners, and funds managed by Fidelity Management & Research Company and Blackrock alongside other new and existing investors including L Catterton, Durable Capital Partners, The Spruce House Partnership, Novator, Mubadala Capital, and dmg ventures, amongst others.
In June 2020, the company announced that it is the fastest British business ever to have reached the unicorn status. In March 2020, the startup raised £100M (approx €108.3M) in funding.