Mobility technology provider Fleetondemand has acquired Buckinghamshire-based vehicle management company FleetEurope for an undisclosed sum.
The deal was funded by Fleetondemand’s current investment partner BGF, which bought a minority stake in the business following a £5 million investment last year.
According to Fleetondemand, the acquisition will accelerate the growth of its Mobility as a Service (MaaS) solutions within the vehicle rental sector through the provision of its Mobilleo application to FleetEurope’s blue-chip client base.
The combined business will create a suite of MaaS technology solutions and services for both UK and international companies, as well as a fleet of more than 600,000 vehicles from 2,200 branch locations nationwide using the latest version of Fleetondemand’s rental platform. The company says the system currently manages 320,000 transactions per year from 19,000 individual users.
The business will be led by Fleetondemand’s chief executive Justin Whitston (pictured, right), non-executive chairman Andrew Cope, chief financial officer Nicola Sharp, operations director Matthew Heald and Fleet Europe’s chief operating officer Joe Howick (pictured, left).
FleetEurope’s current chairman and founder, John Yarroll, will be retiring after 25 years of managing and growing the business.
Whitston commented: “Bringing the two businesses together was an easy decision in our aggressive growth plan. FleetEurope has been a key business partner since 2012 and has gone from strength to strength in recent years under the guidance of Joe Howick and his experienced management team.
“Both businesses also share very similar core business philosophies and cultures and are renowned for delivering best-in-class customer service and market-leading technology. This acquisition made perfect sense, allowing us to strengthen our existing partnership and fuel our ambitious growth plans.”
Howick added: “This new partnership with Fleetondemand is an extremely positive move that will enhance our existing service offering to customers. We’re experiencing a growth in demand for an all-encompassing mobility solution that allows customers to book various modes of transport, in addition to vehicle rental. Our customers will have access to Mobilleo, Fleetondemand’s revolutionary MaaS technology platform that consolidates all forms of business travel into a single application, including car rental, flights, trains, ferries, taxis, car clubs, hotels, airport lounges and more.
“We’re extremely excited about this new partnership. Maintaining our reputation for delivering outstanding service is our top priority, so it will be very much a case of business as usual for our customers as we bring the two businesses together.”
Fleetondemand was financially advised in the acquisition by KPMG, while Resolution Partners provided corporate finance advice to FleetEurope. Legal advice was given by Freeths (Fleetondemand), Gately (BGF) and Osborne Clark (FleetEurope).
fleetondemand.com