Cazoo has acquired automotive data insights platform Cazana for £25 million in cash.
The online car retailer listed on the New York Stock Exchange only a few days ago via an $8 billion SPAC merger which raised $1bn in funds.
Founded in 2012, London-based Cazana has an expert team of 50 people, including data scientists and engineers, focused on real-time valuations, pricing trends and stock management tools.
It holds an extensive dataset of over 500m historic vehicle prices from more than 40 countries and is used by vehicle manufacturers, lenders, fleet owners and insurers.
Cazoo, which has already sold over 35,000 cars in the UK since its launch less than two years ago, said the deal will further optimise its car buying and pricing across the UK and Europe.
“Cazana has built one of the leading data insights platforms, providing tools which are used by manufacturers, lenders, fleet owners and insurers in the automotive space,” said founder and CEO Alex Chesterman OBE.
“This acquisition will enhance our data team and capabilities and enable us to further optimise our buying and pricing of vehicles across the UK and Europe.
“I am looking forward to welcoming the Cazana team to Cazoo as we continue our mission to deliver the best car buying and selling experience to consumers across Europe.”
Cazana’s subsidiary Car & Classic did not form part of the transaction. CEO Tom Wood and COO Chris Varin will remain with the Car & Classic business.
“I am very proud of what we have built and what the Cazana team has achieved over the past few years,” said Wood. “We now have comprehensive vehicle data across Europe and our extensive dataset, products and tools are highly valued by our customers.
“Cazoo has a clear vision and strategy to provide the best full stack car buying and selling experience across Europe and by joining forces, the Cazana team, data and products will continue to play a key part in accelerating the digital transformation of the industry.
“Chris and I are excited to be continuing our journey leading Car & Classic whilst supporting the integration of the Cazana business with Cazoo over the coming months.”
Cazoo has recently launched an all-inclusive monthly car subscription service for new cars as well as its used car buying service in the UK and is gearing up to launch its proposition later this year in both France and Germany.
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.