1:42 pm, April 28, 2021
Used car dealer Cazoo has appointed another board member as it gets ready for its £6bn flotation later this year.
Qualified solicitor Moni Mannings will become non executive director and chair of the remuneration committee when the listing takes place in Q3.
Cazoo, led by Alex Chesterman, is planning a merger with Ajax I – a so called special purpose acquisition company or SPAC – to list on the New York Stock Exchange.
Mannings currently sits on the boards of Hargreaves Lansdown, Easyjet and Investec Bank.
She is also the deputy chair of children’s charity Barnardo’s.
Mannings said: ‘I am excited to be joining the Cazoo board. What Alex and his team have achieved so far is very impressive and the opportunities ahead for Cazoo are enormous.
‘I am looking forward to helping to shape and be part of Cazoo’s mission to offer the best possible car buying experience to customers across the UK and Europe.’
Other Cazoo board members will include Alex Chesterman, Stephen Morana (CFO), Duncan Tatton-Brown (audit chair), Dan Och (non-exec), Viscount Rothermere (non-exec), David Hobbs (non-exec) and Anne Wojcicki (non-exec).
Meanwhile the digital car dealer – that last year snapped up the car supermarket group Imperial to launch a number of physical handover centres across the UK – has also expanded its sponsorship deals even further.
Cazoo will become the headline sponsor of the world’s oldest classic the St Leger Stakes horse race.
The Cazoo St Leger Festival will take place in September and includes prominent branding across the Arena Racing Company’s 16 racecources.
The car dealer has spent millions of pounds in sports sponsorship including backing two Premiership football teams Everton and Aston Villa, The Hundred cricket, the EFL, the Rugby League World Cup, the Derby and the World Snooker Tour.
‘This deal will enhance our brand awareness with racing fans up and down the country and we look forward to engaging with them and introducing them to the best car buying experience in the UK,’ said boss Chesterman.
Cazoo timeline
Click on the date to read the full story
April 2021 – Dealer appoints Anne Wojcicki of 23andMe to its board
Apr 2021 – Cazoo becomes headline sponsor of Derby Festival
Mar 2021 – Cazoo takes swipe at car dealers branding them ‘untrusted’ and ‘permanently impaired’ in investor pack
Mar 2021 – Cazoo confirms plans to list on the NYSE via a merger with Ajax, a special purpose acquisition company.
Feb 2021 – Cazoo acquires German subscription service Cluno and plots European expansion. As part of the deal it says it will be moving its HQ to Germany.
Feb 2021 – Reports suggest Cazoo founder Alex Chesterman cashed out £100m of shares in the last round of fundraising which was announced in October 2020. Firm refuses to comment.
Feb 2021 – Rumours surface that Cazoo is planning a stock market flotation in New York at a potential valuation of £5bn. The figures baffle industry experts.
Feb 2021 – Cazoo snaps up Smart Fleet Solutions, a vehicle reconditioning and storage specialist which operates from four sites and has 500 staff.
Dec 2020 – Cazoo buys car subscription service Drover for an undisclosed sum with a plan to offer subscriptions to the used cars on its platform.
Nov 2020 – Founder Alex Chesterman takes a swipe at car dealers saying the current sales model is ‘flawed at every level’ in an interview with The Times.
Oct 2020 – Cazoo posts £19m loss for first year of business according to accounts filed at Companies House.
Oct 2020 – Cazoo announces a further £240m in funding taking the total raised to £450m at a valuation of £2bn for the online retailer.
Sep 2020 – Cazoo accused of online-only U-turn as it begins turning former Imperial sites into ‘Customer Centres’ and plans many more around the country.
Jul 2020 – Car Dealer breaks the story Cazoo is about to buy Imperial Car Supermarkets. A day after our story breaks, the firm reveals the deal has been done.
Jun 2020 – Cazoo signs deal to become shirt sponsors of Everton in a deal rumoured to be worth nearly £10m. It soon follows it up with a similar deal with Aston Villa.
Mar 2020 – Cazoo announces another £100m in funding, taking the total raised to £180m. DMG Ventures, the venture capital arm of the Daily Mail, piles in as part of the fundraising.
Feb 2020 – Leaked Cazoo investor pack reveals used car dealer plans to sell 217,000 used cars a year by 2025. Predicts it will lose £70m in first three years.
Dec 2019 – Cazoo launches and announces a total of £80m in funding from venture capitalists General Catalyst and Mubadala Capital.
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