Cavendish is delighted to have advised on the sale of SMA Vehicle Remarketing Limited (“SMA”), the UK motor auction and services group, to BCA Marketplace plc (“BCA”) for an enterprise value of £43 million.
SMA has a multi-channel approach selling vehicles online and through its physical auction sites in Kinross, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Newcastle and Leeds offering dedicated sales for cars, light and heavy commercial vehicles.  In addition, SMA offers a range of value-added services to vendors including inspection services, transport services and tactical repair. The SMA Group recorded revenue of £37.2 million and adjusted EBITDA of £4.7 million in the year ended 31 October 2014.

BCA Marketplace plc (“BCA”) is Europe’s largest used vehicle marketplace, both in terms of the number of vehicles sold and revenue, as well as the UK’s market-leading provider of vehicle buying services through its ownership of WeBuyAnyCar.com. The vehicle remarketing division facilitates the exchange of used vehicles between vendors and buyers through both physical and online auctions across 12 countries in Europe, as well as through a joint venture in Brazil.

Avril Palmer-Baunack, Executive Chairman of BCA said:

“We are delighted to have completed this value-accretive acquisition so soon after listing BCA and to be delivering on our previously stated intention to pursue both organic and non-organic routes to accelerate growth of the auction exchange and support services. We welcome the SMA management team led by Bob Anderson to the BCA Group and look forward to working with them to continue to provide a pre-eminent service to our buyers and vendors”.

Mark Rijkse, shareholder and director of SMA said:

“We have thoroughly enjoyed working with the Cavendish team.  Andrew and Eimear offered us unstinting support and valuable advice throughout the transaction.  They were instrumental in helping us achieve this result.”