Constellation Automotive Group expands with another takeover deal

Constellation Automotive Group, which already owns BCA, Cinch, Marshall Motor Group and WeBuyAnyCar, has acquired again.

It has taken over motor auction firm Aston Barclay, which is the UK's third largest auction group after BCA and Cox Automotive's Manheim.

The takeover, which includes Aston Barclay's subsidiary The Car Buying Group which is a smaller rival to WeBuyAnyCar, is Constellation's first major deal since 2022 when it bought Marshall.

In a brief statement, Constellation said: "Aston Barclay has recently been experiencing difficult market conditions and, as a result, closed its Leeds remarketing centre in January 2025.

"The acquisition aims to secure the longer-term viability of the Aston Barclay network of centres and avoid further closures by bringing further investment into the business, along with incremental volume from the group’s growing WeBuyAnyCar business.​"

Aston Barclay operates five motor auction centres at Chelmsford, Prees Heath, Westbury, Donington Park and Wakefield. Its customers include Hedin Automotive, Arnold Clark and Toyota and Lexus Remarketing.

Last July it appointed a new chief operating officer, Eddie Thomson, who was once sales and operations director at BCA. Several other members of the Aston Barclay leadership team have extensive remarketing experience gained at BCA, Manheim and Scottish Motor Auctions.

At the time its executive chairman Greg MacLeod said that "with 40 years of auction heritage, Aston Barclay is poised for growth."

That was a year after it had undertaken a senior management restructure which created new leadership roles and drove the exit of its chief executive Tom Marley, who subsequently joined Cox Automotive.

Aston Barclay was once owned by the Scarborough family, after it was founded by Les Scarborough in 1984, but in 2017 a management buyout backed by private equity firm Rutland Partners led to industry veterans Neil Hodson and Laurence Vaughan taking charge to scale up the business and increase its digital capabilities. Both left the business earlier this decade.

In its most recent company accounts, Aston Barclay reported revenues of £34.8 million, up from £29.3m the prior year, but a slump in pre-tax profit from £997,000 to £298,000.