British Car Auctions has been acquiried by Haversham Holdings, a consortium of investors, in a deal anticipated last week.
The board of Haversham announced at just after midday that it had reached an agreement that values BCA at £1.2 billion and is funded through placing of new ordinary shares and a new debt facility.
Avril Palmer-Baunack, executive chairman of Haversham, said: "The acquisition of BCA represents an important strategic step for Haversham into the automotive sector.
"BCA is a market-leading business with a unique position in the used vehicle marketplace.
"Haversham's management team sees exciting growth opportunities in the changing European used vehicle market and plans to refresh BCA's strategy to enhance its strong growth record. We would like to thank our existing and new shareholders for their strong support and look forward to working with the management team at BCA to create long-term value."
The company will be re-named BCA Marketplace plc.
Haversham was set up last year with the aim of buying “substantial companies and businesses in the UK and European automotive, support services, leasing, engineering or manufacturing sectors”.
It is led by Avril Palmer-Baunack, who used to run the vehicle logistics business Autologic and ran the haulier Stobart. She is reported to have the backing of a funding group comprising including Aviva Investors, Artemis, Invesco and Schroders.
The private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) acquired BCA in 2009. After the IPO of BCA failed last year the equity firm has been exploring options of selling the business.
Jeremy has been a journalist for 30 years, 20 of which have been in business-to-business automotive. He was a writer and news editor on AM-sister brand Fleet News for three years before setting up the AM website. For the last five years he has been Bauer B2B’s head of digital helping to manage the digital assets of AM, together with Fleet News, Commercial Fleet, Rail and Smart Transport.
William McDougall - 27/06/2018 20:01
Sir,or Madam i am sorry to contact you as you are very busy, my name is William McDougall and i work as a driver for BCAL and have done for nearly 3 years. Out of Newport Hub in Newport South Wales I love my job and pride myself in a 100% collection or delivery . I am a very customer oriented employee and always perform the best of my ability, Unfortunately i find myself in a dilemma i have been continuing to have trouble with certain coordinators at Newport Hub and i have spoke to my front line Manager but unfortunately in my eyes it ended there. I don;t want to open a can of worms but i feel i am being forced out of a job i love. and enjoy. i know i see myself as a very small cog in a big machine but if the small cog isn't operating the machine stops. i know that's a bit drastic but its true to fact. Sir because of the previous incident at the hub i have made myself unavailable for the rest of the week and will be submitting my one weeks notice on Monday morning any advice you could give would be gratefully appreciated i dont want to leave the job i love it but we have the wrong people in the jobs concerned. Yours Sincerely William McDougall WIMC