Cazoo has sold data platform Cazana for an undisclosed sum.
The online car retailer made a £25 million cash swoop for London-based Cazana in September 2021, just days after listing on the New York Stock Exchange via an $8 billion SPAC merger.
Founded in 2018 by serial entrepreneur Alex Chesterman OBE, Cazoo’s rapid growth in the UK and overseas made headlines, leading to the merger which raised £1 billion in funds.
However, concerns over profitability in recent months have seen its share price nosedive and a new strategy put in place to focus exclusively on the UK. It has disposed of its Italian and Spanish businesses, with its French and German operations also wound down.
Cazoo’s cost-cutting measures include the closure of preparation centres and customer handover sites in the UK. Chesterman is set to move to the position of executive chairman from April, at which time COO Paul Whitehead will take over the day-to-day CEO duties.
Cazana, which is focused on real-time valuations, pricing trends and stock management tools, has been acquired by insurance data intelligence provider Percayso Inform. It will be known as Percayso Vehicle Intelligence going forward.
“The disposal aligns with Cazoo’s strategy to focus on its core business as the leading online car buying and selling platform in the UK as opposed to providing data services to third parties,” Cazoo stated.
“The agreement includes the sale of the Cazana brand, platform and commercial contracts and Cazoo will continue to benefit from the expertise gained from acquiring Cazana in 2021.
“The sale is not expected to have any material impact on anticipated revenues for Cazoo in 2023.”
Cazana holds an extensive dataset of hundreds of million of historic vehicle prices from more than 40 countries and is used by vehicle manufacturers, lenders, fleet owners and insurers.
Chesterman said at the time of the acquisition: “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.
“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 original transaction, with CEO Tom Wood and COO Chris Varin remaining with the Car & Classic business.
This article was updated following publication to include the identity of the purchasing company.